


Barry Versus Guyliner (a love story)

by WacheyPena



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M, Guyliner, Labyrinth References, M/M, Multi, Princess Bride References, Rocky Horror Picture Show - Freeform, Song references, Star Wars References, boys in makeup, embarrassed barry, hero crossovers, hgtv references, hints of batman, references to it anyway
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-05
Updated: 2016-03-18
Packaged: 2018-04-25 00:48:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 31,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4940278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WacheyPena/pseuds/WacheyPena
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Iris just wanted to test out her new eyeliner. It wasn't her fault the speedster forgot he had it on.</p><p>Or</p><p>How guyliner got Barry hooked up with Len.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I See You Shiver With Antici...Pation

**Author's Note:**

> My first ColdFlash fic! Enjoy everyone :3

It was a typical Thursday morning. The sun was shining bright, birds were nesting, and a certain speedster was still asleep. His alarm went off five minutes ago, but it hadn’t woken him up.

Fortunately for him, Iris had decided to come by and visit. She had brought along with her some coffee and treats, as well as a few other items she wanted to show her best friend.

Once inside the house, she bounded her way upstairs to see if Barry had woken up yet. She smiled as she found him still asleep, on his side and nuzzling a pillow. So with a mischievous glint in her eye, she crept as close as she dared before plopping the bag of cookies onto his face.

Barry startled awake before groaning as he moved the parcel off of his head. He kept a firm grip on it though as he greeted, “Mornin’ Iris!”

“Good morning, sleepy head! Time for you to get ready for work, and there’s something I want to show you,” she explained.

“Can I have some more sleep? You know I can get ready really fast,” Barry pleaded with the best puppy dog eyes he could manage in his tired state.

“Nuh uh, you’ll over sleep and be late for work again, so get up!” Iris commanded. She also snatched the bag of cookies as she said, “And you’ll have these after.”

With that she left the room, and despite being denied some extra z’s, Barry smiled as he got up to get ready for the day.

By the time Iris arrived down stairs and sat on the living room couch, the speedster was done and already eating the pumpkin shaped cookies she had brought him.

“You cheater,” she exclaimed and lightly smacked his shoulder.

“I told you,” Barry teased back, dusting off some cookie crumbs from his black sweater. Underneath he had a white button down shirt, and also wore gray jeans with black converse.

His breakfast snack consumed, he relaxed into the couch with the coffee Iris had given him too and asked, “So what did you want to show me?”

“Oh, I just purchased this new eyeliner, and I wanted to test it out,” Iris stated as she dug through her purse for said item.

“Um, okay, what does that have to do with me?” Barry asked confused.

“I’m going to test it out on you,” she clarified like it was the obvious answer.

“What? Why? It’s for you, isn’t it?” he questioned, now all types of confused.

“Yes, but I already have my regular make up on, and I am not spending another half hour putting it back,” Iris argued back.

Conceding to her valid point, Barry sighed, “Fine, just don’t give me that huge, flaring point or whatever you guys call it–”

“Cat eye?” Iris suggested playfully.

“Yeah that,” he answered.

“Don’t worry, Bear, it will be just like in high school, remember?” Iris mentioned to try and comfort him.

Instead it caused him to whine,“Ugh, don’t remind me!”

“But you were such a sweet transvestite!” she teased and nearly sang the last two words.

“No, stop, I don’t want to remember that phase!” Barry halfheartedly complained. Though he was actually fond of his memories as Dr. Frank-N-Furter for the school play. It was one of the few times he was popular among his peers. So of course he wanted to keep that attention up.

“Alright then, lean back and close your eyes,” Iris asserted. He did so and tried his best to stay still as his eye was poked with the pencil.

It was quiet for a moment or two until Iris sang, “It’s just a jump to the left…”

Barry smiled despite himself and sang back, “And then a step to the right.”

“With your hands on your hips,” Iris prompted again.

Just going with it, Barry replied, “You bring your knees in tight!”

“But it’s the pelvic thrust!” she exclaimed, moving the pencil away from his eyes. She was messing it up anyway.

“They really drive you insane!” he sang without missing a beat.

“Lets do the time warp again!” both sang at the same time and started laughing.

“Okay, okay, enough of that, let me fix the squiggle that is this line here and then I’ll do the other one,” Iris managed to calm down and say. She let Barry wipe at his eyes first before re-attempting to apply the liner.

Before long, Iris was done and let Barry open his eyes again. She turned his head back and forth so she could view all angles and then leaned back to see from a distance before saying, “Hm, not bad! Looks really good on you. It also applied smoothly. Might buy more of it later.”

“Good,” he simply said in reply, but then spotted the time. “Oh god, I’m gonna be late if I don’t go now!”

He grabbed his things for work and finished his coffee before stating, “Bye Iris, see you later!”

“Wait Barry–” she tried to stop him, but he had already gone in a flash. She pondered for a second on whether or not she should text him. But inevitably she chose not to, assuming he’d remember on his own.

—-

Barry was still late, but not as much as his usual. He greeted everyone cheerfully and they absently nodded back. He received a few odd looks, but was more or less unnoticed.

He was headed up the stairs towards his lab when Captain Singh caught up with him.

“Barry, do you have the files for the Mendoza case?” he demanded in his usual tone, but then he looked startled as Barry turned to face him.

“Actually, I have one more test to make, and then I can turn them in,” he admitted a little fearful of getting another lecture.

It didn’t come though, and he was surprised when his Captain said, “Fine, just get it done when you can and give it to Joe.”

He marched off before Barry could respond. Shrugging, the speedster headed off to get his work started. And had no idea he had just reminded his Captain of his fiance cross-dressing and fucking him last night.

Singh did not come out of his office for the rest of that day.

—-

“Hey, Bear, did you finish that file I asked you to do yesterday?” Eddie asked as he came into Barry’s lab.

It had been tricky, and super exhausting, but during the singularity issue, the Flash had managed to find and save Eddie as well as the city at the same time. The man still had a hole in his chest, but by some miracle was able to cling to life long enough for doctors to remove the bullet and close up the wound.

He was then in a coma for three months before waking to find Iris sleeping in a chair beside his bed. Eobard, his descendant, hadn’t returned though. Cisco theorized it probably had to do with Iris ultimately choosing Eddie over Barry. The engagement ring serving as the undeniable proof.

His dream to marry Iris had been crushed so many times, Barry wasn’t even surprised anymore. The newspaper they saw from the future was a false hope as far as he was concerned. And he would get over it with time.

Thankfully, Eddie was also a really nice guy and Barry found it impossible to hate him or wish him unhappiness.

He handed over the file and replied with a smile, “Here you go!”

“You’re wearing a lot of black today,” the detective commented as he got a good look at his friend.

“Oh, my red sweater had a stain on it from Joe’s lasagna,” Barry answered casually.

It wasn’t what Eddie was referring to, but if Barry didn’t want to talk about it, who was he to judge?

Either way he said, “Thanks! I’m about to head for lunch, did you want me to bring you anything?”

“A burrito? Or two?” Barry asked carefully. He didn’t like pushing his luck in the food department, but all his friends knew why he ate so much.

“Sure thing, see you in a bit!” Eddie said as he left. Maybe he’d ask Iris if Barry had been clubbing last night? Or was he trying to impress a new girl?

—-

When Joe came to see him, he was finishing off his ninth burrito. (Eddie had found a deal of a dozen for ten dollars and had kept two for himself.) His father figure scrutinized him for a second before smiling and shaking his head. Joe remembered those days in high school.

“Doing a time warp today?” he lightly taunted.

“Oh my god, Iris got that song stuck in my head earlier! Now it’s back!” Barry groaned and made Joe laugh. The speedster didn’t think to ask why he had brought that up though.

Getting back to business, Joe asked, “Have you finished the Mendoza case?”

“Yeah, it’s right here,” Barry said as he handed over the file. He had finished his other work as well so he ventured to ask, “How early can I get off today?”

“Just wait one more hour, and then you can go,” Joe granted as he read over the file on his way out.

Telling a speedster to wait was a trying endeavor.

—-

When he finally escaped work, Barry wasted no time getting to Star Labs. He prepared to greet both Caitlin and Cisco when he heard ‘I’m Worth It’ being played loudly in the Cortex.

Curious, he peered through the doorway before entering and found Cisco shaking what his mama gave him as he worked on his tablet.

“Ah!” the engineer exclaimed once he realized he was being watched, causing Barry to chuckle. The song was immediately paused.

“Did Caitlin call in or something?” the speedster asked as he came into the room.

“Yeah, she wanted to spend a day with Ronnie, so…” Cisco explained embarrassed and unable to look his friend in the eye.

“Any Flash business I need to do right now?” Barry then asked not so innocently.

“Um, no? Everything’s clear for once, though I’m not sure how long that’ll last,” Cisco griped. He had been having so much fun with the lab all to himself.

Smirking mischievously, Barry challenged, “Then why did you stop the music?”

Intrigued, Cisco asked, “Are you challenging me to a dance off? Cause I would totally win!”

“We’ll see,” the speedster countered.

Accepting the challenge, the engineer started the song over. Both men then proceeded to trash talk the other as they danced.

“Dude, you don’t have boobs, stop shaking your chest like that!” Cisco accused playfully.

“You’re just jealous of my pecks, Mr. Bubble Butt!” he received in reply as the other sashayed his hips in time with the music.

“Hey, my butt is bootilicious! I’d like to see you try and twerk like this!” the engineer asserted as he did the ridiculous move. He was so proud he hadn't fallen this time.

“Pfft, I can totally drop it like it’s hot! See?” Barry argued and did just that.

“Whoa, you did that way too smoothly! Wait, did your powers give you extra flexibility?” Cisco questioned in slight awe and having stopped dancing.

“Maybe!” the other teased and did a move like Shakira.

Only a little upset Cisco exclaimed, “Ugh, that is so unfair!”

“I’ll say, even I’m not that flexible!” a new voice added in.

Surprised, Barry shouted, “Oh god, Iris, why?!” with Cisco adding, “Don’t you dare post that!”

“Too late! And don’t worry boys, I’m fairly sure the song was louder than what you were saying,” Iris laughed evilly at their devastated expressions.

“Are you sure Captain Cold is your arch nemesis?” Cisco questioned.

“She’s only hurting our pride,” Barry reassured, unable to stop his blushing.

Putting her phone away, she offered, “Eddie and I are going clubbing tonight. Did you two want to join? You know, and show off them moves?”

“Only if you buy us dinner first! We don’t perform for free,” the engineer mock pouted.

“Alright fine, dinner is on me,” Iris agreed. It was the least she could do after embarrassing them.

—-

Len was trying to plan for the Rogue’s next heist when his sister, who had been distracted from the start, started laughing hysterically at her phone.

"What’s so funny,” Mick asked slightly irritated.

“Someone posted a vid of Cisco and his friend at Star Labs twerking,” Lisa answered as she tried to calm down. She wasn’t stalking the engineer per se– that was Len’s habit– but she did like to keep tabs on him from time to time. He was too adorable not to!

“What is it under,” Len asked as he got his own phone out. He had a suspicion as to whom the 'friend’ had to be, and they were confirmed once he viewed the video.

Who knew the Flash was that smooth a dancer? And the eyeliner? Definitely a good look.

Standing up he announced, “That’s enough planning today.”

He started to walk out as his sister asked, “Where are you going? Are you going out? Are you going to a bar? A club? Take me with you if it’s a club!”

Len sighed as he said, “Fine.”

“Yay! Mick, behave while we’re gone!” Lisa gleefully said as the Snart siblings left the house.

The arsonist waited till they left before grunting, “I twerk better.”

—-

Despite it being Thursday, it was still fairly crowded at the club they had gone into. Since Barry couldn’t get drunk, he went straight to the dance floor. The others joined him after they had at least one or two drinks.

Iris and Eddie stayed close together, which left Cisco and Barry to continue their dance off from earlier. People around them started to cheer them on too.

It was eventually interrupted though when one woman was bold enough to ask the engineer to dance with her. He happily accepted and was glad that what little he could see of her in the dim lighting was hot.

This left the speedster to dance alone, and he got both bored and uncomfortable fairly quickly. He wasn’t in the mood to let any strangers grope him.

Barry started moving towards the bar when the DJ announced, “This next song goes out to Len’s friend Scarlet! You know who you are!”

'I’m Worth It,’ then started playing, making the women in the crowd cheer. But all Barry could do was blush and look around in shock for the only person who called him that nickname.

Yet he couldn’t really distinguish anyone in the crowd since it was so dark. It would have been easier if they had had black lights on.

“Looking for me, Red?” a teasingly familiar voice said way too close.

Barry would totally deny he yelped, as he said, “Oh my god! You saw the video?!”

“Of course. I do get bored on occasion,” Len replied perfectly calm and leaning towards his nemesis so he could be heard over the music. He then stated matter-of-factly, “Black is a nice color on you.”

“Um, thanks?” Barry replied unsure as he looked down at what he was wearing. What was with everyone and his clothes today? There was also no way Cold could be flirting with him, right? They were enemies! It had been a few months since the betrayal at Ferris Air, but that didn’t mean it was forgotten.

“I’m not referring to your sweater,” Len corrected, interrupting his thoughts. The thief then had to dash off as he spotted the detective and his fiance heading their way.

This left Barry so confused until he turned on the camera on his phone to see his face.

He still had the eyeliner on.

-tbc


	2. But I'm Me Stumbling Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry and Cisco discover the secret to Eobard Thawne's menacing stare.

"Do you think Cold has been stalking me? And that's how he and his sister knew where to find us the other night?" Barry asked in concern. The encounter itself had left him both embarrassed and a little flattered.

"Probably," Cisco muttered bluntly. He still felt a little weary and sore himself after discovering the woman he had been bumping and grinding with had actually been Lisa Snart. Sure, she was in disguise with a redheaded wig, but it still stung that he was fooled again. Or that no matter what, he was always attracted to her.

Trying not to dwell on that irritating thought, Cisco continued working on the locked box in front of him. Its lock was a mix between modern and future tech so it was proving tricky for him. But he was never one to back away from a challenge.

"Normally I would disagree with that assumption, but this is Cold, so he most likely does?" Caitlin added in unsure. She was the one who had found the box after receiving Harrison Wells' house in his will. She intended to sell the property but figured it best to have the whole place inspected first in case there was anything amiss they needed to fix. They hadn't found anything too bad so far.

"Ugh, that's just what I need! Now I'm going to have to change my schedule," Barry complained.

"I wouldn't bother. He'll probably figure it out," Caitlin said honestly.

"Besides, it could be worse," Cisco pointed out.

"How is Cold knowing where I like to eat and hang out not the worst?" the speedster pouted.

"He could know more intimate details, like your clothing size, favorite pj's, or the amount of freckles you have on your body," Cisco listed.

Receiving a suspicious look from his friend, the engineer blurted, "Who do you think gave you sponge baths when you were in a coma? Iris?"

Barry gasped, "And you haven't even bought me dinner yet!"

"I can't afford you," was the teasing response, and caused them both to laugh. Caitlin just shook her head at their antics.

Suddenly, when Cisco was not paying attention, he had pressed something on the box and a small bag came out of it. Startling everyone.

"What is that?" Barry asked as he came closer.

"Uh, a satchel I think," the engineer replied.

Caitlin came close as well before correcting, "It's a makeup bag."

"How do you--never mind I see the logo," Cisco asked before seeing the brand his mother often used. Another thing he'd start associating with Dr. Evil now.

He then proceeded to open it to see if the Reverse Flash kept lipstick or blush in it. The first thing to fall out was a filled syringe.

"I'll analyze that," Caitlin volunteered and snatched it out of her friend's hands. She quickly went into another lab to do so.

The engineer then poured the rest of the contents in the bag carefully onto the desk in front of him. One item was a key to open the box, which left Cisco with an anti-climatic feeling. The other stuff that came out was all the same: eyeliner. There was also one pencil sharpener.

Both him and Barry were puzzled as to why a man like Wells needed so much guyliner. But when the thought struck him, Cisco blurted, "Maybe this is why his stare was so menacing!"

When all he received was a confused look, he explained further, "Didn't you notice how intense his blue eyes were whenever he gave speeches or presentations?"

That earned him an even more dubious stare from Barry who asked, "Are you sure you're not--"

"Hey, I just have a thing for blue eyes, that's all!" Cisco quickly defended. He did not want to repeat the teasing he received for mentioning how impressive Captain Cold's eyes were in his blog. Though when he thought about it, Barry hadn't disagreed with the notion.

They were both silent for an awkward moment before Barry decided to change the subject and asked, "Should we try them out?"

Without hesitation Cisco replied, "Hell yes!"

Both then proceeded to the men's restroom so they could use the mirror to see what they were doing. And after several grueling minutes of Cisco nearly poking his eye out and griping 'Ow, dammit!' Barry took over for him since his own eyes were done. Super speed had its advantages.

Once finished, both of them looked into the mirror to see the results.

"Whoa," Cisco stated as he looked at himself.

"You look like Jack Sparrow," Barry laughed.

"Captain Jack Sparrow, and dude, I'm totally digging this! It'd be perfect for our Halloween party!" the engineer exclaimed.

This prompted Barry to ask, "We're having a Halloween party?"

"Well, I'm still trying to figure out all the details. I mean, this would be the first time I've ever planned one," Cisco admitted.

Curious, the other asked, "Oh okay, did you want it here or at your apartment?"

"Here, cause the walls at my place are way too thin! By the way, with those eyes, you should totally go as Hook. So we can be pirates together," Cisco suggested in elation.

Finally taking the time to look at himself, Barry was startled by how much more vivid his eyes appeared in his reflection. He tested a glare and realized it had intensified that too. And with the right hair style and some beard? He could see himself dressing up and making a decent looking Hook.

Then again, it had been a while since he last grew in any sort of facial hair since becoming the Flash. Maybe there was a styling trick that Oliver knew? Barry would visit him and find out later.

"What type of music are you going to have?" Barry then asked.

"Oh, well the usual staples along with some Disco," the engineer answered slyly.

Barry thought it over before saying, "Cisco Disco night was fun, but I'm pretty sure that limits the amount of songs that you'll have to play for that night. Do you happen to have a playlist on your tablet for us to look over?"

"Of course," Cisco replied as he led them back to the cortex. He brought up the various song files he had on his tablet for the speedster to browse.

Barry gasped when he found one in particular, "Dude, you gotta play this!"

\----

Another day, another heist to do. Only this time the Rogues were a mere hour away from executing their plan. And Lisa was still distracted and ignoring her brother's instructions.

"Despite us being related, I expect your best," Len said coldly.

"Pfft, someone's in a mood," she replied still ignoring him and surfing the net on her phone.

"More like on the rag," Mick added with a smirk. Their fearless leader had been acting bent out of shape since he went clubbing the other night. Mick assumed he got rejected by whatever piece of tail he was trying to get.

Len was about to give a dispute when his sister squealed in excitement.

"Iris West posted another video of Cisco and that dork you like!" she announced in explanation. Ever since the first vid, she had subscribed to the reporter's channel for any further updates on her adorable scientist.

"Barry," her brother corrected and was by her side in an instant. Mick joined them for lack of anything better to do.

Hitting play, the three of them watched in silence as Cisco and Barry were at first dancing, and then singing "Take on Me." The latter hitting the high notes beautifully. Then their singing ended with both men shouting in shock and trying to hide their faces.

"You are evil woman! Just plain evil!" were the final words Cisco could be heard yelling along with Iris' laughter.

"Damn, your boy can sing," Lisa muttered after it was over.

Len was loathe to say, "He's not mine."

"Yet?" she asked teasingly. It was only a matter of time, if she knew her brother well enough.

With a determined look, Len ordered, "You two go home. I can handle this heist on my own."

\----

Despite the extreme embarrassment Iris had recently given them, it was still nice to hang out with each other and not worry about the city. So after confiscating his best friend's phone, Barry went about singing and dancing to a few other songs on Cisco's playlist. If he happened to appear with some sushi in the middle of one song, no one commented.

Caitlin had joined them too, having heard the loud music. She was still waiting on results from the syringe. So it was fairly easy for the speedster to convince her to dance about with him.

"Are you sure you want to have the party here? I mean, what if we invite people who don't know Barry is the Flash?" Iris questioned as the engineer continued to go through his playlist and organize files. He'd tackle the locked box another day.

"Pfff, don't know what people you're talking about, cause I'm pretty sure all the people I'm inviting know his identity," Cisco countered.

"He's not wrong," Barry added in. Then paused and said, "Unless you're referring to Linda, but I didn't think you were that close with her?"

"I'm not," Iris sighed before finally admitting, "I just don't think Star Labs is an ideal place for a party. I mean, the most we could do is set aside a table for some food, play music, and mingle about with friends in the place we work."

Cisco slowly looked up from his tablet with a glare as he stated, "Are you challenging my party planning skills?"

She was saved from having to reply as their alarms went off to alert them to a crime being committed.

"What is it?" Flash asked as he was now in his suit. His updraft left Caitlin a little dizzy so he fetched her chair for her to land in. She huffed a rueful smile at him before getting back up and heading to the monitors.

"A robbery at the museum, and look who it is," Cisco explained clearly exasperated.

The footage he had on display showed Captain Cold smirking before icing the camera. It only took a few moments to confirm that no one else was with him on this heist, so Flash left to handle the situation.

\----

It had taken some convincing, and a lot of teasing, to get Mick and Lisa to leave Len to do this on his own. But if he wanted to keep a certain young man's secret, he could not let them be around.

It wasn't too long after Cold iced a few cameras that he felt that particular charge of electricity and heard the tell tale whoosh of air that always followed the speedster. And as always, it was from behind.

"Give it up Cold, you're not getting what you want today," Flash stated in what he must assume was an authoritative voice. But it was more cute than anything, like a lion cub trying to roar.

"Oh, I wouldn't be too sure about that," Captain Cold replied as he turned around to face his nemesis. He had another quip on the edge of his tongue too. A tease referring to Barry's singing ability, but something made him pause as he took in the speedster's appearance.

There was an intense moment of silence before Cold suddenly smirked like the cat that caught the canary as he said, “Why Scarlet, if I had known you were going to pretty yourself up for me, I would have put on my fancier parka.”

Flash blushed in embarrassment, and Cisco exclaimed on the comms exactly what he was thinking, "Oh shit, the guyliner! We forgot to take it off!!"

And the master thief continued with, "I guess it's only appropriate, especially if you want to 'take on me.' "

Something broke on the other side of the comms along with all of Barry's dignity.

\----

Iris West wasn't allowed in Star Labs for a week after that.

-tbc

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this one was a little shorter than the last chapter, but I had specific scenes I wanted to have happen here while other ideas I want in the next few chapters. I also kind of got stuck on said scenes in this chapter, which may be why they're a little awkward.
> 
> Barry and Cisco singing and dancing is starting to become a theme here XD


	3. Face to Face, My Lovely Foe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver Queen not only gives really swanky parties, but excellent make up advice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sort of un-betaed, and I say sort of cause I did have dumb_fallen_angel assist and read over what I've done. But no mistakes were found so I guess that's good? Just let me know in comments if something is weird though, cause I wrote eleven pages within a span of 24 hours and no sleep.

It seemed like all the crime and metas in Central had run away to Star City. At least Barry thought so, as his visits to assist Team Arrow were becoming far more frequent than his regular patrol routine. Eddie had a theory it was due to CCPD being on higher alert and more active in the month of October. Joe, on the other hand, believed it was just the quiet before the storm.

Barry didn't appreciate a pun that reminded him that Mark Mardon was still on the loose. He also didn't like how his train of thought would go from Mardon to the man who had set him free either.

Why was Snart suddenly flirting with him? Was he really flirting? Or was this a new tactic to throw Flash off so Cold could get away with more heists? It was certainly working if that were the case.

"Hey, get your head in the game," Green Arrow lightly scolded, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Right, sorry," Flash replied before running around and doing a quick sweep of the building they were scouting. Turning up nothing, he could only go back to his teammate and shrug.

"Felicity, are you sure it was this warehouse we needed to be looking into?" GA said into his comms unit.

"The police reports say it is," she replied back a little unsure.

The archer looked towards his companion, so Flash explained, "The most I found in there were some broken and dusty mirrors. Along with whatever SCPD have found. If this guy had been operating in here, he's gone now."

"Alright then, sounds like you two should just head back in and sleep. Got a big day ahead of us tomorrow!" Felicity informed.

"On our way," GA replied. Turning off his comms, he then faced his friend and asked, "Ready for the masquerade party?"

"Masquerade party?" the speedster asked confused. He was fairly sure Cisco wanted to celebrate on the 30th, and that the party was going to be karaoke.

With a strained smile, GA stated more than asked, "You haven't checked your email yet."

Instead of letting the Flash sputter in embarrassment, the archer chose to explain, "Felicity sent you an invite to our fund raising masquerade ball tomorrow. It's to raise money for my mayor campaign and to pull in potential future clients for Palmer Industries."

"Oh wow! I'd love to go," Flash agreed. Then he realized he didn't have a tux good enough for such an event.

His expression giving him away, GA offered, "Come to my place at around three, and we'll see about getting you something that fits."

"Okay, cool! See you tomorrow!" and with that he was gone in a flash.

Oliver shook his head, smiling in amusement. Then he was off on his bike to head home too.

\----

The official invite said Barry could bring a plus one, so he brought Iris along with him when he went to Oliver's apartment. They were an hour later than expected.

"Sorry, that was on me, because Barry decided to tell me last minute and I had to figure out what to wear," Iris informed in her best friends defense.

"Oh, we can totally go dress shopping right now if you'd like. We just need Barry's measurements," Felicity responded, already grabbing her purse.

"Really? Let me text Cisco then, I'm pretty sure he has them," Iris commented as she took out her phone.

Barry found himself awkwardly explaining to his friends, "During my coma, he was the one who cleaned my body."

Trying to console him, Felicity stated, "At least it wasn't Dr. Wells who got to see your goods. I mean--"

Feeling a smidgen of amusement at Barry's horror, Oliver chose to save him from further trauma by suggesting, "Sweetie, why don't you and Iris go costume shopping while you're out?"

"Right, I need to find us matching costumes!" Felicity immediately jumped on board that subject.

"Thanks for the reminder! I still haven't figured out what costumes to get me and Eddie," Iris joined in.

"Barry, did you need a costume too?" Felicity asked even more excited at the prospect of shopping for both dresses and a Halloween ensemble.

"No thanks, Cisco is making mine. I'm going as Hook," he informed. If he hadn't suspected the engineer was a cosplayer before, he certainly did now, especially with the amount of supplies Cisco had at his disposal.

It definitely explained a lot of the details on his Flash suit.

Smiling with good humor Iris added, "And he's going as Jack Sparrow. So they can be pirate buddies."

"Aw, that's so cute! Are you going to be growing in a beard or getting something fake?" Felicity asked.

"Actually I was going to ask Ollie for tips on that," Barry admitted sheepishly. Earning a few more 'aww's.

Checking the time, Oliver stated, "The party starts at seven, you have just around two hours to shop."

With that said, the girls immediately said goodbye and left the heroing pair to their own devices to entertain themselves.

They couldn't do too much damage alone together after all.

\----

It wasn't often that Leonard Snart left Central City, but he did occasionally leave. Particularly when summoned by potential clientele that were willing to pay considerable funds.

At least, that was his explanation to Lisa and Mick as he boarded a train to Star City. The invite to a secret business rendezvous was legit. Though if Len chose to find and confront a certain speedster while he was visiting, that was only for him to know.

Dressed in semi-formal clothing, his suit navy blue, Len entered what appeared to be one of many ordinary ware houses. This town was full of them after all.

The inside, however, was far more immaculate than he expected as it had silk carpeting and plush red chairs for everyone to sit in. And by everyone, he meant the dozens of other men and women he saw present getting into chairs. There appeared to be a stage at the very front too.

Just what type of event had he walked into?

Moving along, he noticed the metal detector and security guards handing out name tags. He debated whether or not this was a wise venture.

"Why, if it isn't Mr. Snart! How nice of you to join us! It's not often you leave Central City, after all," a person Len hadn't met before greeted him.

"Sam Scudder, at your services," the man offered his hand.

He was the man who had sent the invitation to this secret meeting. Len had done thorough research before coming in, and from what little there was, he knew the other to be a thief as well. An aspiring one anyway, because he didn't have much of a reputation yet.

Not giving the other his hand to shake, Len simply quirked a questioning brow, causing the other to say, "The security is a precautionary measure, I assure you. As much as we'd like to think there is honor among thieves, not everyone is capable of keeping their cool."

Sam had been proud of that pun, but receiving just a blank stare, he finished explaining, "Any and all weapons and electronics brought in are to be left up front, and you will be given them back when you leave. I assure you the presentation is short and there is no obligation for you to stay and participate in the venture if you're not interested."

"Now not everyone has arrived just yet, so while you wait, I suggest you find a seat and get to know your fellow thieving brethren. You might find a new ally or two while you're at it."

With that said, Sam finally left Snart alone. Len smirked, due to getting the man to reveal everything he had wanted to know without having to bother speaking himself.

Walking forward, Len proceeded to go through security, giving up his phone, gun and knife. His name sticker was then slapped onto his chest. A factor he didn't appreciate as he glared at the guard.

The man didn't even flinch though, just went back to marking him off of the list. So Len decided to move on and ignore them as he studied the other patrons. He recognized quite a few.

John Corben, an ex-military turned mercenary from Metropolis. He mostly dealt in arms deals, so he could bring in the weaponry if necessary. Definitely top class, as he had yet to be caught by any authority. Len hadn't had a chance to work with him yet.

The Weather Girls, from Kansas, whom were a group of three young women with powers of fire, ice and wind respectively. Len hadn't believed what he had heard of them at first, but the Flash changed that. Though judging by their gossipy behavior and from their history of stealing from beauty pageants, Len didn't think they would mesh well with his Rogues.

Barbara Minerva, or Cheetah as she liked to call herself. She often worked alone and left quite a bloody mess of any guards who happened upon her. And only half of her attempts were successful. Not an ideal ally, but a worse enemy. Len gave a respectful nod as he passed her by.

Finding a set of seats that were still empty, Len chose to sit alone and continue his observations.

There were quite a few people from Gotham. Mostly mafia members, but a few who worked solo such as Copperhead and Roxanne 'Roxy Rocket' Sutton. The first took joy out of killing and was quite unpredictable. Len wasn't sure she would cooperate well with others just for money. Roxy, from what he had read, used to be a stunt woman. And now she tended to get more of a thrill out of the danger she created rather than getting away with her loot.

"Mind if I sit here?" a woman said interrupting his thoughts.

Looking up, Len was greeted to the sight of a lovely woman with short black hair, and vivid green eyes. She wore a black, long-sleeved peplum top, (the sleeves being lace), a purple form fitting skirt, and black pumps. It was simple but stylish. A quick glance at her name tag revealed her name to be Selina Kyle.

Len recognized the name, knowing of Catwoman thanks to Lisa. She had worked with the other woman briefly before Len had encountered the Flash for the first time. It had been a very conducive partnership from what his sister had told him. So he nodded his assent and she sat in the chair next to him.

"How is Lisa doing?" she asked politely.

"She's fine," Len replied just as cordial.

Selina looked around them briefly before explaining in a hushed tone, "Rumors in Gotham say that the Santini family have set a bounty on your head."

"I'm aware," he responded. He had already spotted a few members from Gotham's mafia families leering at him. But he chose to pay them no mind for now.

"Well, what you may not know about the Maroni's is that they've started smuggling something that's far more precious than diamonds," Selina continued to say. Her implications quite clear.

Len wanted to ask her for further details but their host had finally gotten on stage and was starting to address his audience. Len chose to only half-listen in as he debated and tried to plan his next move. He couldn't risk leaving his sister alone for too long if she was a target for kidnapping.

Since Selina seemed to know more about that family than he did, Len figured his first move was to invite her over to stay with his Rogues. At least for the next couple of days. Second, contact his sister and let her know of the danger. Third, find out if anyone from Gotham had just moved into their neck of the woods. Fourth, find out if any of their safe houses were now compromised.

Finally, visit the Flash and cash in his favor if necessary. The speedster owed him his life after that incident at Ferris Air.

"...and our target is the Queen Masquerade Ball!" Scudder was still speaking.

"Isn't that going down tonight," someone in the crowd interrupted.

"Yeah, we don't have time to prepare," another added in.

"Everyone calm down, I already have what we need to ensure success. The only thing I'm missing are volunteers to join me in the spoils. Now as I explained earlier, you are all welcome to leave if you do not wish to participate in this endeavor. But for those who wish to stay, I will provide more details," he answered calmly.

There was mumbling among the crowd, and some were already starting to get up to leave. But everyone noticed as Cheetah stood and walked forward.

"Your plan is simple, but I believe it will succeed, with the right team," she practically purred.

Those who were about to depart now hesitated and waited to see who would volunteer next.

"This could be a lot of fun, I'll join," Roxy Rocket stated next and was followed by Copperhead.

"I don't deal in petty thievery, I'm going," John Corben stated firmly and walked out. Some followed after him while others went towards the stage to join Cheetah and the others.

There was no question that Len wasn't going to join. He preferred to be in charge and working with people he knew. Scudder's current volunteers were all unpredictable variables that he probably couldn't rely on. Then there was the matter of time, which they had very little of to perfect whatever plan Scudder had cooked up.

As he got up to leave though, he noticed Selina following close behind him. They gathered their things from the guards and headed outside.

It was as they approached a black Lamborghini that she offered, "Need a ride?"

Well, who was he to say no to a beautiful lady and her hot wheels?

\----

"Mm, oh my god, Ollie," Barry practically moaned, causing the other to blush.

Quite proud of himself, Oliver replied, "I take it you like your chocolate souffle?"

"More like love," Barry corrected and took another bite and moaning once again around his spoon. He wanted to take his time and savor this treat, but it only took a few more bites for him to completely finish it.

After he proposed, "If you ever need a guinea pig for your culinary skills, just call me."

"Will do," Oliver agreed before asking, "Now what was it about a beard you wanted to know?"

"Oh well, actually, I already asked Joe for help on that. I mean, if you have other tips I'm more than happy to listen. But I had a few other questions I had wanted to ask and--," Barry started to babble.

"Does any of it have to do with what distracted you last night?" Ollie interrupted.

"Sort of...? I mean--yeah. I just--" Barry paused trying to figure a way to explain this without giving away that it was Cold he was referring to. He wasn't sure how his friend would handle that sort of information. Then again, he had slept with Huntress, so maybe he'd understand?

Either way, Oliver waited patiently for his friend to continue and then started to lead the speedster to his bathroom. He figured he could get the shaving tips out of the way for now while Barry worked out what he wanted to say.

Lifting up a few of his personal items Ollie explained, "I use this for trimming, and this for moisturizing. The latter is far more important. Also, since you haven't grown a beard in a while, you might get some ingrown hairs. So I suggest washing your face on a daily basis with a gentle scrub, if not get some tweezers."

"Okay, I kind of figured that much, but how expensive is that trimmer?" Barry then asked. Joe had taught him well, so he knew how to take care of his face.

It took a moment for Oliver to contemplate his answer before he said simply, "I can loan you a spare, just give it back when you're done."

"Wow, that expensive huh?" the speedster teased. Though he was grateful for the offer regardless. Now curious Barry looked around the bathroom counter and grabbed what looked like a big compact of black eye shadow.

He asked, "This Felicity's?"

"No, I use that," Oliver answered, getting a bag to hold the razor he was giving to Barry.

"What about your mask?" Barry asked with a confused look on his face.

"I wear both. It's more intimidating," the other explained handing over the bag.

"Okay, I've tried using make up before, but it doesn't look intimidating at all. At least not on me," Barry admitted.

"I saw. Nice singing voice by the way," Ollie teased. Felicity had shown him Iris's videos the other day.

"Thank you," Barry replied, choosing not to rise to the bait this time. He got enough teasing from people at work.

"Your problem is you make it too neat, it has to be sloppy," the other explained and grabbed the eye shadow from his friend.

Oliver then proceeded to apply some to his eyes in a few quick strokes, having done this often enough. He then turned to his friend and proceeded to give him a stern stare.

Barry sighed, "Okay, on you it looks like it should, but I couldn't pull that off."

"Sit on the counter, and I'll prove you wrong," Oliver ordered more than suggested.

The speedster doubted it but did as told and sat on the bathroom counter. His legs were slightly spread, which gave the other man room to stand between them and get to work. Barry then leaned his head forward and closed his eyes.

"So what did have you distracted last night?" Ollie asked as he gently applied the eye shadow.

"Promise you won't get angry?" Barry asked biting his lip.

The other man had a very hard time not rolling his eyes as he sighed, "You slept with one of your Rogues?"

"What? No! Snart and I haven't--I mean we've only flirted--or he's flirted, but--shit," the speedster sputtered. He had not intended to say Cold's name.

"Snart? As in Leonard Snart?" Ollie questioned in confirmation. He had finished applying the make up too so now he was just looking at his friend's upset face. The effect of the eye shadow was anything but menacing.

"Please don't judge me, okay? I'm really confused on how I feel about this," Barry revealed. The blue of his eyes standing out even more.

"Stop pouting, and close your eyes," Oliver instructed as he grabbed something else from the counter. It was Felicity's black eyeliner.

Again doing as told, Barry asked hesitantly, "You're not mad?"

"All that's happened is flirting. So long as he hasn't influenced you to do evil, I have no reason to be mad," the other man responded.

A little hopeful, the speedster asked, "What if I influence him to be--"

"Don't. You might have a 'deal' with him right now, but that in no way means he's willing to change and give up what he does for you," Oliver asserted, speaking from experience.

It came off a little harsh, but Barry understood that his friend was only trying to look out for him. And he was right. Snart was a criminal, first and foremost. No matter how attracted he might be to Barry, there was little to no chance that he'd give up thievery just for him. It also wouldn't be fair of the speedster to expect the other to change while he didn't. That wasn't how life worked.

Oliver could tell by the downturn of Barry's eyebrows that he had upset his friend. So he reiterated, "Look, you're an adult. Only you know how much heart break you can handle."

Putting down the eyeliner, he then gently grasped Barry's face in both of his hands and said with the utmost sincerity, "I'm not saying you should jump into a relationship with him, nor am I saying it isn't possible either. Ultimately, you'll have to decide for yourself if he's worth the risk."

Barry had no idea what to say as he stared back into his friends eyes.

"What did I just walk into?" Felicity asked from the bathroom doorway. From her point of view, her boyfriend was in between another man's legs and about to kiss him!

Without missing a beat, Oliver turned Barry's head towards his girlfriend and asked her in a very serious tone, "Be honest, does this look menacing to you?"

"No, he looks like a sad raccoon, and is that my eyeliner?" she asked next, still a little perturbed.

"Guess you were right, Barry. Probably best if you avoid using make up," Ollie stated as he stepped away and let his friend get down from the counter.

"A raccoon? Really," Barry asked as he walked by Felicity.

"Yes, now go clean up and get your suit on, we have less than thirty minutes to get ready!" she ordered playfully. She'd grill Oliver for details on what was really going on between them later.

\----

They were still late, but thankfully by just a few minutes. Oliver was dressed in a typical black suit and tie with a white shirt and a black masquerade mask. Barry's suit was pretty much the same, only they gave him a maroon tie and maroon mask to be cheeky.

Felicity wore a dress similar to what she had worn that one time on Trivia Night at Jitters. Only this one had a longer skirt that split in the middle and was dark green. Another inside joke for their group. She looked sexy either way.

Iris looked stunning in a carnelian red, halter-top dress that cinched at the waist and had a flowing skirt. Her hair put up and wearing pearls she borrowed from Felicity. Both women wore feathery looking masquerade masks to go with their gowns.

After the mandatory introduction speech, they were then free to mingle about among the crowd. There was food and drink provided, along with some music playing for couples who wanted to dance.

The girls were asked to dance early on, and Felicity used it as an opportunity to charm some of their guests. Iris did as well, but mostly for the article she planned to write. It was the only way she could get time off to come to this event at the last minute.

Barry stood with Oliver watching the guests move about, though he did occasionally move off to get some finger food. He was grateful they had pigs in a blanket and that more were being made.

"Oliver! It's been so long," a deep, smooth voice greeted, walking towards the pair. The man was as tall as Oliver and looked to be similarly built too. Only his hair and stubble were black.

It wasn't until the man lifted his mask with a grin that Oliver finally replied, "Bruce! Wow! It has been a while!"

The two of them hugged briefly before Ollie said, "I didn't expect to see you!"

"Well it isn't often that one of my old friends decides to run for mayor," Bruce replied.

The two men then delved into what appeared to be a personal conversation so Barry took a step to the side to give them some privacy. With nothing better to do he noticed a few more guests starting to arrive later than his group.

"Oh, Barry," Oliver gestured for him to come closer.

The speedster did so and lifted his mask as Ollie introduced, "Barry, this is Bruce Wayne, an old friend of mine from school. Bruce, this is Barry Allen, a friend who's been helping me out a lot lately."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Wayne," Barry stated as he shook hands with the other man.

"Please, you're a friend of Oliver's, you can call me Bruce," he was given in response as well as a very disarming smile.

What was with billionaire's and charm?

The three of them fell into easy conversation after that as Bruce asked for more details on Barry, such as where he worked, how he and Oliver met, and so forth. And like most, he was definitely fascinated by the fact that Barry survived being struck by lightening and what effects it had on him.

"So far, it's mostly effected my metabolism. I now have to eat way more than I used to," Barry answered carefully. He had gone over it with the team on which truths he could tell and which to keep hidden. Thankfully, he was able to use this one as an excuse to leave the other two and get some more food.

It wasn't that Bruce bothered him, he just wasn't used to so much attention from such a desirable person. Barry wasn't going to lie to himself, Bruce Wayne was very attractive and so charismatic. He'd be surprised if that man went home single tonight.

Maybe he should warn Iris?

As he looked around for his best friend among the crowd, he spotted a new couple walking through the doorway entrance. His breath catching in his throat at the sight of them.

The woman wore a form fitting black gown, with three quarter sleeves that were transparent. The whole dress was covered in lace, and the sides were also sheer which added that extra sex appeal on top of the elegance of the dress. Her mask had a cat motif. But she was not the reason Barry was out of breath.

No, it was the man escorting her that shocked him; Leonard Snart.

\----

In the privacy of her car, Selina had explained why she hadn't volunteered for Scudder's heist. Her first and foremost reason being that she had worked with Cheetah before and it had not ended well. Second, she already had an invitation to the party itself, she just needed a plus one. And third, when she did steal things, it was usually when no one was around. Less trouble that way.

Len certainly liked her style, and had agreed to go as her escort to the masquerade. It was surely going to be interesting to see Cheetah and the other bandits attempt to rob the place. He doubted they would actually succeed.

He contacted Lisa while being fitted for a formal suit, a gift courtesy of Selina. He informed his sister of what he knew and ordered her and Mick to keep hidden till he returned with their new friend.

Then it was off to the ball! Len wore a simple black tux and black mask, but it was enough to fool everyone there. It certainly didn't hurt that he looked damn good in it, which seemed distraction enough.

Selina had handed in her invitation and the two of them walked in with little to no problem. Though something definitely caught her eye as they walked forward and looked over the crowd.

Doing his own observations, Len spotted someone very familiar at the food table. Who would've thought Barry Allen was friends with Oliver Queen?

"Should we visit the guest of honor?" Selina asked coyly.

"It would be rude not to," Len replied, feeling just as playful. This was going to be a fun night.

\----

There was no doubt about it, that insufferable smirk could only belong to Leonard Snart. Barry refused to acknowledge how or why he recognized the man's strong jaw, lips and piercing blue eyes. And instead chose to walk back to his friend's side and hope the thief wasn't here to start trouble.

He also worried that Snart had seduced the poor woman he was escorting. Was she his mark? And why did the thought of Snart seducing someone else upset him so much?

If only he knew he wasn't the only one thinking these very same thoughts.

Oliver kept his face blank but friendly and stood behind his two friends. He noticed both seemed tense as a particular couple came up to greet them. He vaguely remembered what Leonard Snart looked like, but he didn't want to assume anything. Though he couldn't fathom why Bruce was suddenly as stiff as Barry.

"Mr. Queen, Bruce," the woman said first as they arrived.

He nodded at her before introducing, "Oliver, this is Selina Kyle. A fellow Gothamite and sometimes business associate. She has successfully managed quite a few fund raisers."

"Oh, Bruce, you flatter me," she swatted his arm playfully before gesturing to Len and saying, "This is my dear friend, Leonard Sniegowski."

Both of them seemed to share a look after she said that name, like it was an inside joke or something.

"Sniegowski? Isn't that Polish for snow?" Bruce asked curiously.

Barry had to refrain from snorting at that. Of course Len would use an alias with a snow pun in it. He was a dork like that. Not that Barry wasn't either, but that wasn't his point. Though now he was starting to think Miss Kyle wasn't as innocent as he thought before, especially if that shared look she gave Len was any indication. Were they working together on something?

Or were they an actual couple? Cold did have a lot of secrets that the Flash probably wasn't privy to including his love life. He couldn't imagine them working out though. She had nothing on his speed after all.

Wait, was he actually getting jealous over this? Barry had to take a mental step back and scold himself for being an ass. He was jumping to conclusions, and needed to get the facts straight with Snart before any further mistakes could be made.

To make matters more awkward, Felicity came in saying, "Oliver, I need you to dance with me so this old guy will stop bothering me. I mean, I get it, my boobs look great, but there are only so many times I will let an old man ogle me for money. And I don't mean that to sound like a stripper!"

She said the last part after realizing she was standing between two complete strangers she hadn't met yet.

After getting over his embarrassment Ollie said, "...Bruce, Ms. Kyle, and I'm sorry I can't pronounce your last name...?"

"Sniegowski," Len provided calmly though he was clearly amused.

"Yes, that, this is Felicity Smoak, my girlfriend," Oliver finished introducing.

"I'm Barry Allen, by the way, in case no one knew that," the speedster added in anxiously. He only received a knowing smirk from Len.

"Hi, nice to meet all of you, but as I said earlier, I need my boyfriend for this dance," Felicity said breaking the silence and pulled Oliver away. He went along without a struggle.

Taking that as his cue, Bruce offered, "If your friend doesn't mind, Selina, could I have this dance?"

"Certainly, Len, I trust you'll be fine without me?" she said as they departed for the dance floor as well.

Barry waited till they were alone before demanding quietly, "What are you doing here Snart?"

"Call me Len, kid," the other corrected him.

"What? You think I can't pronounce that dorky last name?" the speedster argued.

"Can you?" Len challenged back.

"...well no, but you didn't answer my question," Barry replied trying and once again failing to be intimidating.

"Just here, enjoying an evening with a friend," the older man answered vaguely.

"And how do I know you're not just using this friend like you did me?" Barry challenged.

"Selina can handle herself," Len said back and pointed out, "Are you sure you want to do this in public view, Red?"

Now Barry took the time to look around them and though no one was paying them any mind, that could easily change with how easy Len often got under his skin. It was quite the crowded place and it would be easy enough for others to get nosy and find out what they were arguing over if it got down to that.

Even though none of his friends were around to provide him back up, he felt confident that he could handle this situation. So he said, "Fine, follow me."

He didn't have to look back to know Cold was behind him as he found an empty meeting room for them to talk in private. He took off his mask, because he thought it would be silly to talk about what they needed to in the things. Hearing the door shut he turned around only to find Snart had moved in a lot closer than he had thought. This caused Barry to step back and bump into the table behind him.

"You've got me all to yourself now," Len teased, his voice a low rumble, and pulled his own mask off.

It was definitely effecting Barry's libido, but he tried to stand firm as he said, "This isn't the time. Why are you here?"

"As I said before, enjoying an evening with a friend. I had planned on visiting you. I just didn't know I would find you here. Now how do you know Oliver Queen?" Len finally clarified.

The lie that wasn't really a lie rolled off easily as Barry said, "Through his girlfriend, Felicity."

Len now stood mere inches away from Barry, staring intently at his face. His eyes and lips especially. It was supremely distracting and left Barry unable to think of anything else to say. There were still a lot of things he needed to ask about but he couldn't remember them at this moment.

Then, as if in slow motion, which wasn't hard for a speedster to envision, Len moved his hands along Barry's arms like a caress before coming to rest and holding the sides of his face. All he could do was gasp softly and wonder why he wasn't stopping this.

He wanted it, that's why.

"I definitely enjoy seeing your eyes like this, shining in a way that is far prettier than any diamond I have seen," Len slipped. He hadn't meant to say it, but it was said now and all he could do was wait for the kid's response.

Belatedly realizing what his Rogue was referring to, Barry babbled nervously, "I tried to wash it off but Oliver used something that was water proof."

Suddenly, Len was now pressing against him, practically pushing him onto the table. And in a voice darker than what he was used to hearing, Len asked, "How close did you let him get to you, Barry?"

Barry found himself in the exact same position he was in earlier. But seated on a table and with a very different man standing between his legs. A very dangerous man who sounded upset at his admission.

Was it possible that the other was jealous? Like he had been earlier? Were they mutually attracted to each other? It was very obvious that Snar--Len was. Barry had tried not to hope, but did he want to risk losing this opportunity? Or risk his heart over possible failure?

Coming to a decision, Barry affirmed, "He's just a friend, Len. Now hurry up and kiss me already."

He expected a slamming of lips and for the other to fight for dominance.

Instead, the kiss started off tender building in passion as they each grew more bold and comfortable with the other. Their tongues eventually coming into play but not fighting, just exploring and making Barry vibrate in excitement.

"Sorry," he mumbled as they broke apart for breath. His back was now laying against the table, his possible lover on top of him.

"No need to apologize, Scarlet. When we have more time, and a proper bed, I would like to explore that more," Len reassured before starting their kiss anew.

Unfortunately, a sudden scream from the ballroom interrupted their good time.

-tbc

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter got out of hand XD Len decided we needed actual plot and Barry kept wanting to get it on with everyone!
> 
> Not sure what is in store for our main couple in the next chapter aside from what I want to have happen. I can't predict these muses. Anyway, hope you guys are enjoying the fic so far, and I'll do my best to update again soon!


	4. As The World Falls Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry is on the cusp of choosing whether or not to start a relationship with his arch nemesis, but a new villain makes their debut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta read and approved by [kipsi](http://archiveofourown.org/users/kipsi) Enjoy thine read!

Len had forgotten the party was going to be held up. His speedster was just too pretty of a distraction. Though now he was left with quite the pickle and he wasn't sure he could talk himself out of it without time to think.

Something Barry wasn't giving him as he pushed the man off and went to the door only to discover it was locked. The arousal he felt earlier morphed into anger, and completely changed the atmosphere of the room.

Turning around and glaring he demanded, "What's the fucking deal, Snart?"

"I knew you didn't want your friends walking in on us," Len supplied in reference to the door. Having not prepared for this situation, all he could do was speak the truth. That didn't mean he'd make it easy though.

"Bullshit, you did this to distract me didn't you? So your friends could hurt mine," Barry accused, anger and heartache fighting for dominance in his chest. A part of him hoped he was wrong, and that Snart wasn't behind all of this. But another part that sounded a lot like Joe in his head said he most likely was.

"This is not my city and those are not my friends," Len said defensively in return. The reminder of their deal implied. Captain Cold only operated in his hometown after all. And with as little civilian casualties as possible. A masquerade ball was hardly an ideal place to rob.

Relief flooding him instantly, Barry sighed, "I'm sorry, I should've known. This isn't your style anyway."

Len gave a barely there smile as he replied, "Forgiven. Besides, didn't the last mayor candidate get shot at? It really shouldn't surprise you that your friend is being robbed."

That caused the speedster to pause his attempts to exit the room and he asked, "How do you know it's a robbery and not an attack?"

Shit. Len had revealed too much, and he wasn't able to come up with an answer fast enough as Barry shouted, "You knew this was going to happen?!"

"Keep it down, Scarlet, or Scudder will hear you and you'll lose your element of surprise," Len ordered.

As if on cue, someone started jostling the door from the other side.

Suddenly, Len experienced an instant lurching sensation, and then found himself in another room altogether. Looked like a supply closet.

"Holy shit! I'm so sorry! I forgot you didn't know I could phase through walls," Barry blabbered in apology. With their masks gone, the speedster was able to tell that the other man was shaken up a bit from the phasing.

"Are you alright," he asked in concern, his hands gently grasping Len's shoulders.

Len clasped his hands on Barry's wrists and pulled them away from himself as he said, "Don't do that again."

"I can't promise that, especially if it's going to save your life," Barry replied calmly. As their hands lowered, he maneuvered his so their fingers intertwined.

His thumbs gently rubbed the top of Len's hands as he questioned, "Now who is Scudder? What can you tell me about what's going on?"

He waited patiently for his rogue to explain, "Sam Scudder, an amateur thief who asked for volunteers to help with this stint. I declined."

Pleased with Len's refusal, Barry was tempted to kiss him again but his friends were in danger right now. So instead he continued with, "Anything else I should know?"

"Six women are working with him. Each more than willing to kill. Three have powers, wind, ice and fire. The other three are deadly enough without them," Len warned. He tried to keep the worry out of his voice though.

"Alright, you stay here," Barry ordered and finally gave in to kissing Len. It was a chaste kiss for now. He then promised, "I'll take care of everything."

"I doubt you'll be taking care of anything, dollface," a woman's voice said behind them.

Crap, they had been found.

\----

With her gun trained on them, Roxy Rocket marched the two men to the main ballroom to join the rest of the hostages. Len recognized the Weather Girls walking about and tying up everyone's hands. One of them even creating ice-cuffs. Cheetah and Copperhead were no where to be seen though, and that worried him just a bit. He also noticed Selina was cuffed and seated next to Wayne but was remaining calm. He pondered whether or not she'd have a plan in mind to get herself out of this.

Roxy then announced, "Look who I found, boss!"

Sam was dressed up in some weird orange and green getup. And upon seeing who Roxy brought in he gasped mockingly, "Why, Mr. Snart? I didn't expect to see you here! Did you attend to see my success?"

Len felt all the eyes in the room stare at him as they realized they had had a criminal among them but hadn't noticed. Normally he would be amused by this, but he had to find a way for Barry to get out so he could come back as Flash. Or give the other heroes of this city time to come in and save them.

So he needed to be a distraction, which lead him to say, "I came to see you fail."

"Excuse me? Last time I checked, I had everyone here at my mercy. Now tell me, how is that a failure?" Scudder boasted.

"Asking that question just proves my point," Len replied just as smug.

Scudder glared and asserted, "I've tried being nice to you. Hell, I even made a stupid cold pun! But you just have to act superior, don't you?"

"It's easy with amateurs like you," Cold quipped back.

This caused the other thief to lift an unusual gun and point it at Len's face as he growled, "You should've stayed in your home town."

A red arrow knocked it out of his hands, and what proceeded next was chaos. Speedy, Black Canary and Diggle were on the scene but they didn't know what Barry and Len knew. So when Cheetah came from behind and scratched Black Canary on the back it came by complete surprise. And from her scream, it was quite obvious it had been an overwhelming hit.

Fire was being shot at them too, and gusts of wind had Speedy tossed in the air and hitting a wall. Diggle tried to go and back up Black Canary but Copperhead had decided to drop in on him from above.

Various people attempted running about as they tried to get out of the way of the attacks. This included Ollie, who needed to suit up, but the girl with the ice powers was using her abilities to keep the hostages inside the room. People were going to get hurt if Flash didn't show up to even the odds.

Noticing that Roxy was distracted, Barry used his speed to knock her out. He then intended to get his Flash suit, but saw Scudder on the ground and having retrieved his gun from earlier. The man aimed it at Len.

Without thought, Barry pushed Len out of the way just as a beam shot out of it. Since it was a beam of light rather than a solid bullet, he himself couldn't dodge it as it hit him solidly in the chest.

There was a brief sensation of cold before Barry felt nothing and his vision turned white.

\----

When Barry was finally able to see, the first thing he noticed was that he was falling or floating. He wasn't quite sure as there wasn't anything around him to use as reference aside from what appeared to be space. Only it couldn't be space since he wasn't dying.

Oh no, what if he had died and this was limbo?

Before he could panic from that thought alone a large set of off-white double doors came into view. He managed to land a few feet in front of them and it was then that he noticed he wasn't wearing what he had been wearing at the ball.

Instead he wore a pair of white, capped oxfords, white slacks, and a fancy dress shirt and a vest combo. The vest had coattails that ended a few inches below his butt and was embroidered with silver and gold lightening designs. Its collar dipped into a low v-neck and gave the illusion that he had cleavage. The sleeves were puffy at the top but thinned out and went over the top of his hands. His shoulders were also left bare, which gave him an overall effeminate look rather than just foppish.

To top it off, there was something in his hair, but he couldn't tell or figure out how to remove whatever it was. Feeling against it, Barry guessed it was a crown or headband of some sort made out of crystal. He hoped the designs weren't of flowers, but he doubted they were more lightening bolts.

Finished inspecting himself, Barry finally moved forward and pressed his hands against the doors. They opened easily and the sight before him left him quite confused.

\----

When the speedster had been hit, his body had become pure light. In fact, it was so blindingly bright everyone had to close their eyes. The only exception being Scudder himself as he wore special goggles that allowed him to see what really happened. To everyone else, Barry was simply gone. No body, no ash; nothing.

"Barry!" Iris cried out in shock and stunned disbelief. She wasn't the only one who felt that way. Felicity was barely able to hold in tears, while Oliver grew angrier by the second.

It was nothing compared to what Len felt though. A sudden, murderous rage that snapped at the smug look the other man was giving him.

Scudder had the audacity to start chuckling even as Len easily disarmed him and began punching his face in relentlessly. And aside from a few people gasping, no one tried to stop him as he continued his beat down. In fact, it wasn't until Scudder's face shattered like glass that he ceased.

Len had to pull his hand back, having been cut and muttered, "That was unexpected."

"Oh, you didn't think I'd be dumb enough to let you near my real self did you? I know your reputation," Scudder said from an above balcony. A few more of him came into the room as well.

And as if on cue, the other villains that were part of his team started making doubles of themselves too. If team Arrow hadn't been in trouble before, they certainly were now.

\----

It looked like Barry had entered another masquerade ball. Though everyone's costumes and masks were far more elaborate and distinct. There were feathers, ribbons, jewels, ruffles, and other sorts of things he often associated with musical theater. It was amusing the more he pondered on it.

Looking around, he thought he recognized a few of his friends, but whenever he tried to concentrate on their details he'd start to get dizzy.

Then, as if sensing someone was staring, he looked up and saw Leonard Snart standing on the other side of the room. Maskless like himself, his blue eyes more captivating then they had ever been before. Were they always so blue?

Len's outfit was just as flamboyant as his own, but the man looked damn good despite that. His pants were black with a white ruffled collared shirt. The jacket he wore on top was a dark, velvety blue, high collared and lapels bedazzled with crystallized snowflakes.

Of course they were snowflakes.

Barry looked away to see if there was a clear path to the other man but when he looked back up he was gone.

\----

Diggle barely managed to get one Copperhead off of him, but dealing with three at the same time was no picnic. The woman was unpredictable in her movements, and was either using various styles of fighting combined or just plain street fighting. He couldn't tell which, but he was grateful these clones shattered pretty easily from a gunshot. This caused the real one to step back and create more copies. She wasn't risking her own life.

Cheetah, on the other hand, felt no such fear as she faced off against Black Canary. Though her canary cry was a decent deterrent as it could reach glass breaking levels. Cheetah summoned the fiery weather girl to assist her in subduing their enemy.

The wind powered one was having a tougher time of it as Speedy demonstrated she was more than willing to slay these copies. She wound up calling for help as Speedy just about lost control to her blood lust. But it wasn't until she had an arrow in the arm that the last weather girl came to her aid.

Hostages were hiding in various corners and doing their best to keep away from the fray. A few contacting the police or their own private security to come in. There wasn't much else they could do.

Oliver finally managed to get him and Felicity out of there and he did his best to suit up quickly.

Meanwhile, Iris, who was currently hiding among a few over turned tables, carefully removed the gun her dad suggested she bring with her out of her purse. She couldn't do what team Arrow did, but she wasn't useless as she shot and destroyed a few of their captors' clones. Including one that was about to slice at Canary's neck.

Growling, Cheetah turned towards the gunman that had destroyed her opportunity to spill the vigilante's blood and spotted Iris. She made a few more copies of herself before they all ran towards her. She only had so many bullets, Iris couldn't destroy them all!

Unfortunately, just as the real Cheetah was about to strike, a whip wrapped around her waist and flung her at another table.

"There's only room for one cat lady here, and you weren't invited," Selina taunted. She had originally intended to sneak out and save herself, but something told her it would be to her advantage to stay. And she was not one to ignore her instincts, especially when she noticed Len was still around. Albeit sneaking about trying to get to the real Scudder.

"You bitch! I'll make you pay for interfering with me!" Cheetah shouted. Not bothering with clones, she launched herself at Selina intent to kill.

Catwoman was more than ready to handle her.

\----

Sighing with frustration, Barry realized he'd have to go onto the dance floor and find Len the hard way. Then, as soon as he stepped onto it he could hear the music being played. It wasn't anything he recognized aside from a saxophone and fast beat.

The people around him were able to keep up with its tempo, which made it hard for Barry to maneuver without bumping into someone. Thankfully, the other party goers simply laughed and moved on instead of kicking up a fuss like he expected.

One couple, who were dressed in matching green, looked like Felicity and Oliver. Was the other man wearing a feathered cap? He definitely had the Robin Hood motif going. Barry took a moment to memorize his friend's getup so he could poke fun of him later.

Oliver's old school mate, Bruce, was there too, and wearing a long flowing black cape that twirled about nicely as he danced with his partner. He was fairly sure it was Selina. But the purple dress and green cape were distracting, especially since it showed off her amazing legs. Their masks were nearly matching too, though Bruce's had pointier ears.

Spotting Len not too far away, Barry attempted once more to get to him only to bump into Iris and -- Eddie?! He hadn't been at the party before. Then again, nothing here made sense so why couldn't Eddie be here too? And if Barry didn't know any better, he'd say his two friends looked more like they were making love rather than just dancing.

Looking more carefully around him, Barry slowly started to realize people were moving way more intimately than what was appropriate for a fancy gala. And that saxophone in the background was certainly not helping in making it appear any less sexual.

Suddenly, an arm wrapped around Barry's waist and someone had pressed themselves against his back. He grasped their hand to pull it off, but turning his head proved it was none other than Len who had found him. Letting out a relieved breath, he attempted to speak only for Len to thrust his hips forward and propel Barry's own into motion.

And just like that, the music grew louder and everything else became a blur as the two of them started their own dance. Barry assumed it was Len's control that kept both of their movements so fluid and in sync with each other. There hips swaying together before Len spun Barry away and then pulled him back so they were now dancing chest to chest.

With their faces so close, it was easy for Barry to lose himself in Len's eyes.

\----

Scudder surveyed the scene below him. Cheetah was too preoccupied with fighting Ms. Kyle; the two appearing to be evenly matched. One of the Weather Girls was down and Copperhead had disappeared. Most likely ran off to save her own hide. Roxy looked to be knocked out still, and had someone tied her up?

And finally Green Arrow had arrived! His presence giving an extra boost to the other members of his team. The SCPD could be heard outside now too. It was time to make a hasty retreat!

Only a fist to Scudder's face prevented that. The proceeding fall from the balcony and landing on his back didn't help much either. But Cold had one hell of a left hook.

Not wasting time, Len bounded over the balcony railing and managed to land on his feet. Though he definitely had to lean forward for a second before he could get up and try to attack the other thief again. He wasn't twenty anymore.

That second was enough time for Scudder to roll away and get up so he could defend himself though. It was an endeavor he barely managed so he attempted to make doubles of himself to gain the advantage. But fate was not with him this night as a black, bat shaped object came out of nowhere and hit his belt directly at the power source. Thus, short circuiting it and forcing him to remove it as it sizzled out.

Then there was smoke everywhere and a few cries of pain along with more sounds of electronics rupturing. Scudder tried to run into the smoke and get away from Cold. His goggles helped him see a bit better than most in the room. By the time the smoke cleared he was in front of a large vanity mirror.

Taking one last glance at everyone, Scudder could see the rest of his companions were down if not tied up. The heroes, though bruised and a little bloody, looked ready to take him down. Captain Cold looked like he regretted not bringing his cold gun.

"Well, I can see I'm no longer wanted! So I'll just be going," he exclaimed cheerfully as he activated another power source on his wrist band. He did have a back up plan after all.

\----

It seemed like time was standing still as Barry and Len continued to dance. Gazing into each other's eyes like there was nothing else in the world to do. But something felt off, and Barry wasn't sure what it was as he continued to stare into crystal blue eyes.

Wait, was it natural for them to be so reflective?

Len suddenly had him swinging into a dip before lifting him back up and kissing him firmly. His lips were cold, and they didn't warm even as he started to kiss along Barry's jawline and throat. There were also cool fingers trailing down his exposed chest and toying with the first button on his vest.

Barry attempted to protest when he noticed others around him losing some of their clothing too. The party was escalating to a place he wasn't ready to go. Despite Len's kisses being so distracting.

Gently wrapping his hands around the other man's face, Barry pulled Len's head away from his neck so he could look at him in his entirety. He was so breathtakingly gorgeous, but he felt so cold.

Then, Barry saw it. Len's mole. It was on the wrong side!

Looking around frantically, the speedster finally noticed the walls were reflective too. This entire world was a reflection! He had to get out!

Pushing the imposter away, Barry had to work even harder to move through the crowd as they tried to get him back with the fake Len. Using a little speed helped though.

Once at the wall, Barry peered around before grabbing a chair and hitting the reflective surface as hard as he could. Thankfully, it only took one swing for everything to shatter and disappear around him.

He was falling once again, but this time his destination was a square box of white light.

\----

Scudder was just about to jump into the vanity mirror behind him when someone fell out of it and landed on him instead.

A little out of breath, Barry muttered, "Some mirror master you are!" He then knocked the man out with a single fast punch before he could retort.

Looking up, he noticed the other bad guys had been handled and his friends were pretty banged up. So he asked sheepishly, "Hey guys! What did I miss?"

A collective sigh of relief filled the room as they realized they had their friend back.

It was short lived though as Copperhead finally came out of hiding and bit into Captain Cold's shoulder. He threw her off and into a wall, which immediately knocked her out. But she had achieved her goal as the man she deemed a traitor fell to his knees in dizzying pain. He had been poisoned.

Multiple things occurred at once as the SCPD finally managed to get into the building to save the hostages and escort the crooks to Iron Heights. Team Arrow had to flee the scene as they were still on a wanted list. Barry, ran to Len's side, barely holding in his speed but not able to hold in his tears.

"This is what I get for being good, kid," Len barely manged to say as he coughed.

"No, don't say that! You're going to be fine, we'll find a cure," Barry pleaded. He couldn't lose him before they even had a chance to start!

"I can help with that," someone said behind him. It was Bruce Wayne.

It was then that Barry noticed he wasn't the only one worried about Len as Selina and Iris stood nearby. The former looking like she had fought a large cat and barely won.

"C'mon, the cure is in my car. We need to sneak out before they slow us down and it's too late for him," Bruce asserted, referring to the police headed their way. They would definitely try to interrogate Len and see if he had anything to do with this and that was time they couldn't afford to waste.

Seeing the determined look in her friend's eyes, Iris volunteered, "You guys go ahead. I'll distract them!"

Turning around, she then approached the officers coming towards them and held her gun in a cutesy manner as she asked, "I don't have a license for this but I used it in self-defense! Does that mean I'm in trouble too?"

Bruce and Barry were already half-way through a door carrying Len as she said that, with Selina walking ahead to keep doors open for them.

"Joe is not going to be happy if she winds up in holding," Barry found himself joking to himself, more out of desperation than good humor.

"Don't worry, I can fix that too," Bruce replied anyway. He was holding up Len's shoulders while Barry carried the legs. Though to do so required him to stand between them.

"If you wanted between my legs, Scarlet, you could've just asked," Len mumbled as they continued to sneak out of the building. This made Barry blush instantly and glare at the older man.

"The venom is making him delusional," Bruce explained, and not questioning the use of the nickname.

Finally, they made it to the back parking lot where an elderly man was waiting by a black Rolls-Royce. He was also carrying a silver case, which he opened once they deposited Len inside the car in the back seat.

Len seemed fascinated by the leather interior and continued speaking, "This is nice. I haven't been fucked in a car this fancy before."

That caused Barry to blush even more though he did giggle a little bit along with Selina. He wished he had had his phone to record that. Thankfully, Bruce was remaining objective and had the antidote well in hand. He then injected it into the spot where Len had been bitten.

"Miss Kyle, if I may tend to your wounds?" the elder man asked politely. Barry took the time to study him finally and noticed he was dressed like a servant.

"Thank you, Alfred, I appreciate it," Selina replied sweetly. She seemed friendly and familiar with him too. Just how many people did she know?

Turning back to Len he noticed Bruce injecting him with something else too. So he asked promptly, "What are you doing?"

"Mild sedative, to ease getting over the poison's effects," was the calm reply. Disposing of the syringe carefully, Bruce explained to both Barry and Selina, "He will most likely wake up sore, so I recommend an ibuprofen and water along with light meals such as soup till the wound on his shoulder heals."

Barry was overwhelmed with gratitude as he said, "Thank you, I mean -- I really appreciate you going out of your way for -- "

Bruce cut him off with, "It was the right thing to do."

The younger man still smiled at him either way.

\----

It was an hour later before Barry entered the latest Arrow Cave. He had had to assist Selina in getting Len into her impressive black lambo, because the man was out cold to the world. A pun both of them smiled over despite it's cheesiness. She then gave Barry a kiss on the cheek and Len's number. Along with a promise that she'd make the man call him once he was better.

The speedster was starting to see why some people were charmed by her.

Fortunately, Iris didn't need bailing out, but she did find something and gave it to him before he dropped her off at Joe's. It was the same object that had broken Scudder's belt earlier.

So Barry placed that in front of Felicity as he came into the cave. He figured she could examine it first before he took it up to Star Labs.

She didn't care about that though as she hugged her friend fiercely, "I thought we lost you!"

"No, I was just teleported to a mirror dimension," Barry admitted in a smart ass attempt at comfort. He was smacked on the arm for it.

"Is Snart alive?" Oliver asked bluntly. He hadn't wanted to leave the other man like that but circumstances didn't give him the option to do anything.

"Yeah, your friend Bruce had the cure, which I thought was weird. But he claimed Gotham was dangerous enough that he's made it a habit to carry around various antidotes for toxins," Barry replied skeptically. He also added, "He was very methodical about it too. Reminded me of Caitlin."

"I'm not surprised. His father was a doctor," Oliver responded, relieved a death had been prevented. He may not trust the thief, but it was obvious he cared for Barry if his beat down of Scudder was anything to go by. Though it was also a little worrisome, so he would discuss it with the speedster later when they had more privacy.

"Was?" Diggle asked, curious. Barry was too, since his own father had been in the medical field.

Oliver sighed before reluctantly saying, "When he was eight, Bruce's parents were murdered in front of him in a dark alley."

Everyone was silent at that before Felicity proclaimed, "Okay, is it just me, or do all hero types have a dark and tragic past?"

"Sweetie, he's not a hero like us," Oliver corrected. She gave him a blank stare in return.

"Hey, he saved Len's life. That makes him a hero in my book," Barry countered. Not everyone had to wear a cape after all.

"Now what's this?" Felicity asked as she grabbed the bat shaped projectile.

"That, is what Iris says ruined Scudder's power belt? I figured whoever threw this could be a potential ally," Barry explained.

"We can investigate that later. Tonight has been more than eventful, so I suggest we all head home and rest. We can do more tomorrow," Oliver ordered more than suggested.

"Yeah, lets do that, but first, why does Barry have a diamond tiara on his head," Diggle pointed out. He hadn't noticed it before due to other things occupying his mind but now that he was relaxed he couldn't help but see it.

Confused, Barry felt around his head and discovered the crown he had in the mirror world had traveled back with him! Felicity assisted him in getting it off as she found a clasp in the back of it. Holding it in front of him, he was now able to see the design was a mix of icicles and lightening bolts.

"Of course," Barry muttered shaking his head and smiling fondly despite himself. It was a pretty souvenir, and reminded him of all the teasing he had wanted to dish out on Oliver.

\----

The rest of the night was filled with laughter as Barry regaled his friends of the various costumes they had worn at this fantasy ball.

-tbc

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just one more chapter to go!! I'm so psyched! (There's totally going to be a sequel though. So we have that to look forward to.)
> 
> Originally, it was Green Arrow that was bitten and poisoned, and Bruce was gonna reveal he figured out their identities and save Oliver's life, etc. But I only wanted to hint at Batman, not blatantly use him to solve everything. Then my Len muse was like, 'Hey, how about if I get bit instead?' I was shocked, but then realized it was a brilliant move! That's my Len muse, always providing plot points XD


	5. Come on Baby, Light My Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Captain Cold does his best to recover from his injury, but something is always coming up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta read by [Drownedinlight](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Drownedinlight/pseuds/Drownedinlight)

"Barry, can I talk to you for a second," Oliver asked as their night together finally came to an end.

They were inside his apartment with Felicity and had just finished joking about the mirror world Barry had been trapped in. Diggle had already gone home and Felicity was definitely ready for bed.

"You just did," the speedster teased and earned an annoyed look in return.

Oliver gestured to his girlfriend that he would catch up with her shortly, and once he was alone with Barry he said, "About Snart--"

"I know you would've helped out if you could," the speedster interrupted. He understood the circumstances that Green Arrow had to deal with in regards to the SCPD.

"Thank you, I appreciate that. But I had actually wanted to warn you to be careful with him," Oliver corrected.

"Yeah, I know. It wasn't that long ago that he betrayed me," the speedster replied. That topic in particular was definitely on his 'to discuss' list with Len.

"No, not--" the archer paused as he considered how he wanted to explain what was on his mind.

He then continued with, "When you were hit by Scudder's gun, none of us knew what had happened to you. All we saw was a bright light, and then you were gone.

Felicity was crying, and I was beyond angry, but Snart..." he paused again trying to think of a more delicate way to say what he needed.

Coming up with nothing though he stated bluntly, "If Scudder hadn't been using a double, everyone in that room would have witnessed Snart killing a man in cold blood."

"What do you mean? What exactly happened," Barry asked concerned, and ignored the pun for now.

"Snart snapped. He was calm one second. Then the next he had disarmed Scudder's double, and was punching its face in repeatedly until it broke," Oliver explained.

Barry was quiet for a moment before replying, "Okay, I'll add that concern to the list of things he and I need to talk about."

Oliver was exasperated as he said, "Barry, be serious. He clearly cares for you, and it's enough to kill someone in retaliation."

"I get that, this is just a lot to take in, okay? I never expected something like this to happen, especially with Len of all people. I need to process this," the speedster conceded.

Quirking a brow, the archer asked, "Now it's Len?"

"Uh, yeah, we were sort of making out before the whole fiasco with Scudder started," Barry admitted sheepishly.

"Well, that explains part of his reaction. You had him all riled up," Oliver teased.

"Hey, it's not my fault he looked really good in a tux," Barry was quick to defend.

"Are you two chatty Cathy's done?" Felicity interrupted slightly grumpy. She was tired after all.

With that, the speedster bid his friends goodbye and left for home in Central City.

\----

Lisa was raiding the fridge of their current safe house when she got another call from her brother. She was tempted to ignore it, but seeing as how the last call involved some very stern warnings from him, she figured it was best to answer it.

"Hey Lenny, do you have any good news for me," she asked hopefully. She hated hiding out from potential threats, and would rather take the offensive route to snuff them out.

"Sorry dear, Lenny's a little incapacitated right now. I just called to get directions to your house," she received in reply.

Immediately suspicious, Lisa asked, "Selina? What happened to my brother?"

"I'm afraid he's had a nasty run in with a snake. I'll tell you more once we get there, which should be in twenty minutes or so," Selina replied calmly.

Lisa gave the other woman the directions she requested and then waited impatiently by the window for any sign of her car. She would have waited outside, but Lisa knew it would irritate her brother if she gave away their location just out of worry for him.

Thankfully, this safe house had a garage, which she opened once she spotted the black lambo driving up. Then, once the doors were closed on the vehicle she immediately went to the passenger's side to check on Len.

"Hi," he greeted her with a slight giggle. This caused Lisa to arch her brow at their guest who looked more amused than anything else.

"Think you can help me carry him in," Selina questioned.

"Let me get Mick and some popcorn. Something tells me I'm in for one hell of an explanation," Lisa replied and headed back into the house.

She was not disappointed.

\----

It was around four in the morning, nearly five, when Barry got a call that woke him up. He groaned when he read the caller id as 'Jack Frost.'

He still answered though and said with a yawn, "Hey."

"Did we really fuck in the back of a Rolls-Royce?" Len asked immediately.

"What? No! No, we didn't! I mean, there was a Rolls, but there wasn't any sex involved," Barry informed, now much more awake.

"Oh, so we didn't steal jewels together either? I could have sworn you had a tiara," Len replied, sounding genuinely upset.

"Yes, I did have a tiara, but I didn't steal it. It was--it was a gift," Barry explained clumsily.

"I don't remember buying that for you. Who bought it? Who do I need to beat up," Len was quick to question.

"No one! Just forget about it! Now what about you? Are you okay," the speedster replied, trying to change the subject. This was definitely the weirdest conversation he had had with his arch nemesis.

Wait, were they still enemies at this point?

Barry grew worried as the other continued to be silent, which prompted him to ask, "Len? Are you alright? Do you need me to come over?"

"Yeah! So we can Netflix and chill..." Len finally said with a snicker.

Barry stared at his phone incredulously before demanding, "Are you high?"

"...no?" was the unsure response.

Bemused, he then asked, "What's my full name then?"

"Uh...Bart--Barth--Bartholomew, heh, you have mew in your name," Len barely managed to say before giving into hysterics.

"Yeah, you're high. Listen, I'm going back to bed, and I'll call back later after work to check on you, okay," Barry sighed.

Hearing nothing but 'mew' on the other end, he chose to hang up before he could be drawn into another weird conversation. It then took him a couple of minutes, but he eventually fell back asleep.

\----

"What are you doing on my brother's laptop," Lisa asked as she found Selina in what was supposed to be a study.

"Just perusing and updating his files," the other woman answered calmly. She had used a thumb drive from a friend to gain access to the files in the first place. She figured a little studying of Central City was in order, especially if she was going to be staying for a while.

"I'm pretty sure my brother wouldn't appreciate someone messing with his things," Lisa pointed out.

"Unless it's you," Selina teased. She had seen some of the personal updates her friend had made in a folder titled 'Nerd Stash.'

There were quite a few images of a certain Hispanic male and Barry Allen together. In fact, there were a lot of pictures of Barry in that folder. And a few vids. Thankfully, Selina was used to obsessive behavior due to her friends in Gotham. So she refrained from commenting on it.

"Yes, now what are you looking at," Lisa demanded as she peered over the other woman's shoulder. It was just a set of blueprints.

"Figured I'd earn my keep while I'm here. Stretch my legs, and introduce myself to the local hero. Did you want to join me," Selina offered.

"Will this night on the town include beating up some goons of the mafia variety?"

Selina contemplated for a moment before answering, "Perhaps at some point, but I make no promises."

"Fine, now what were you really looking at," Lisa requested as she moved the mouse herself to exit out of the blueprints. Her eyes came upon a familiar site.

"That's my nerd," she said proudly and pointed at Cisco.

Selina thought it was cute. She then asserted, "Speaking of, if we're going to get anything done tonight, we'll need someone to keep an eye on your brother while we're away."

"Mick can do it," Lisa shrugged.

Selina gave her a questioning look as she said, "Do you really want to trust a pyromaniac with your brother's health and care? Or would you rather give him the opportunity to spend time with his nerdy beau?"

"Well, when you put it like that! Call him," Lisa gave in.

It only took a few swipes, as Selina had saved Barry's number too, just in case. She let Lisa copy it down as well.

He answered on the third ring, "Hello?"

"Barry, sweetie, it's me, Selina!"

"Oh, hey! How's Len doing?"

His concern for the older man was endearing, and convinced Selina more than anything that he cared. So it was easy enough for her to say, "He's doing alright for now.

But you see, his sister and I have to run a couple of errands, and we don't believe it's safe to leave him alone while he's still recovering. Would it be possible for you to come over and keep an eye on him for us?"

"Sure! I mean--uh--I'm currently at work," Barry said sounding uncertain.

"Oh, we can wait till you get off," Selina reassured. Smiling at Lisa who was silently cheering.

"Okay, cool! Um, did you guys need me to bring anything? Like soup and sandwiches? I remember Bruce mentioned giving him only light meals," Barry offered.

"Yes, please. We didn't have time to get groceries last night, which is one of the errands we'll be running today," Selina agreed to easily.

"Okay, I get off at around 4, but I'll see if I can leave sooner. Just send me the address and I'll text you guys when I'm on my way," Barry explained.

"Thank you, sweetie, we appreciate it! His sister is sending the address now," Selina replied cheerfully.

With that said she then bid him ado, and become quite amused at his startled reaction to hearing that Lisa had his number too.

\----

Fortunately, Barry did manage to get out of work at least two hours earlier. His excuse to Joe being he had a friend who wanted him to babysit their sick dog. It was a flimsy excuse since he didn't have that many friends Joe didn't know about, but Barry was sticking to it.

Along with the food Barry said he would bring, he had also brought some protein bars and other snacks for himself to hold him over while he stayed. Plus pizza money just in case Lisa and Selina were gone all night.

He had debated whether or not to bring his Flash suit, but figured that was a tad excessive for babysitting. So for now it was left at Star Labs.

"Barry! Welcome to our humble abode," Selina greeted, and once again gave him a kiss on the cheek.

The two story dwelling she was referring to was anything but modest though, as its furnishings were much too lavish to belong to a set of thieves. But Barry abstained from thinking about how Len obtained the possession of this house. Instead, he would concentrate on taking care of the older man and getting some questions answered.

Selina assisted him in getting the food he brought put away, because apparently Len had just gone back to bed.

"Should've been by earlier, cutie. You could've joined him in the shower," Lisa teased as she came into the kitchen.

The speedster's face immediately became flushed in embarrassment, and it was with their laughter that they left.

Alone, Barry took the opportunity to explore the rest of the house and found nothing out of the ordinary. He spent a minute or two admiring the study though, since he'd only ever seen them in detective movies. There was also a laptop in there, which he felt tempted to look into.

Deciding not to test his luck, he rushed out of there to find Len's room, and was pleased to discover the man sleeping peacefully.

Barry ate one of the subs he had brought with him and cleaned up the slight mess he had made. Looking around, he found a few more cleaning supplies and did some quick work cleaning the kitchen and living room. Then one of the bathrooms. Then he dusted the study and reorganized the books. Twice. He still managed to leave the laptop alone, which was the important thing.

Len was still sleeping when Barry checked on him thirty minutes later.

Eating a few protein bars, the speedster went about cleaning the rest of the house, excluding the bedrooms. He didn't need to know if Heatwave was the type to leave dirty underwear on the floor or if he only owned one pair.

Barely an hour had gone by, and Barry was so bored. He had cleaned as much as he dared and the books in the study were mostly for show rather than quality reading. That last fact making him pout in disappointment.

The laptop sitting innocuously on the desk mocked him. There were probably all types of things on there that Flash could use against Captain Cold. Then again, Len wasn't dumb enough to leave important information laying out for just anyone to find. For all Barry knew the laptop was personal and had nothing but porn on it.

Before he realized it, Barry was hacking into the thing like nobody's business. He had learned a thing or two from Cisco, and was grateful they were enough to gain him access.

Yet now that he was in, he wasn't sure if he should look further. Wouldn't this be considered violating their deal? And if this laptop was used for personal business, it was really none of his concern what it contained.

Barry turned off the laptop and decided to just join Len for a nap.

\----

"No hermano, we need blood red table cloth, that one is much too bright," Dante corrected impatiently.

When Cisco asked his older brother to help him decorate for his Halloween party, he did not expect having to cater to a full tilt diva. But apparently his shindig couldn't have anything simple like orange and black. No, it was going to be an epic gothic romance. And that required certain shades of red apparently.

"Heh, Fifty Shades of Red would make a great title for a vampire story," Cisco mumbled to himself. It was either that or snap at his brother that all the reds in this store were starting to look a like to him. And he loved the color red!

"It certainly would, you writing it?" a woman asked from beside him and causing him to startle. He hadn't noticed her at all and he wondered how since she was gorgeous! Her face faintly reminded him of Jennifer Connelly.

"Me? No! I'm an engineer, not a writer," he replied trying to sound less nervous and more suave. He wasn't sure he succeeded.

"Is that so," she asked with a teasing smile.

"He certainly is. He's the one who made my gold gun after all," Lisa announced appearing on his other side.

Cisco jumped back and yelped, "Lisa! Hey! How -- I mean -- What are you doing here?"

"No need to worry, Cisco! Just doing a little shopping," she informed casually and rested an arm on his shoulder.

Both her and Selina had been casing a few places when she spotted the engineer and his brother entering one of the party stores. She just had to follow and see what her little nerd was up to!

Said older sibling had noticed his brother was taking too long to get back to him and had come over to investigate. Remembering Lisa from that time he had been kidnapped Dante asked warily, "Everything alright here?"

Sensing the immediate tension, Selina stepped forward offering her hand and said, "Hi, I'm Selina Kyle, and you are?"

"Dante Ramon, pleasure to meet you," he replied smoothly as he took her hand and kissed the top of it like a gentlemen. Cisco would have rolled his eyes if he hadn't been so anxious.

Thankfully, his brother knew him well enough to tell when he needed help out of a situation. So Dante said politely, "I do apologize for being so abrupt, but my brother and I still have much to do for his Halloween party. And this store does not seem to have what we're looking for."

Lisa gasped, "Why Cisco! You're having a party and didn't think to invite me? What's a girl to think?"

"What--did you--I mean--it's karaoke," Cisco managed to sputter out.

These two women were dangerously hot, especially together. And before he knew it, Cisco had given them all the details they had wanted. He could tell this pissed his brother off as they drove to another part of the city and his grip on the wheel was tighter than it needed to be.

"I'm sorry," he eventually mumbled.

"No, I am sorry. I should have taught you how to interact with girls instead of always stealing them away! Now we have two thieves, and possibly more, coming to this party," Dante replied.

"How do you know Selina's a thief?" Cisco questioned. He figured it was a safe assumption but she had such well-tailored clothes, fine jewelry, and smelled so nice. Overall, she looked wealthy. Then again, so did Leonard Snart.

Was that how they displayed their level of skill? The best thieves dressed the fanciest?

"Your watch is missing," Dante answered bluntly, interrupting his musings.

"Nooooooooooooooo," Cisco cried. It had been his limited edition Darth Vader watch.

\----

Barry woke up to the pleasant sensation of lips gently kissing his forehead and a hand running through his hair. He was also pressed up against someone's side, his head resting on their naked chest. Wait, naked?!

Opening his eyes and lifting his head, Barry discovered Len to be awake and that he had used the older man's chest as a pillow.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to--" he tried to apologize.

Len interrupted smugly, "No need to apologize, Scarlet. I have been known to make people drool from time to time."

It had been the saliva cooling on his chest that had woken him up actually, but he didn't want to add guilt on top of embarrassment. Besides, there were worse things to wake up to than an adorable speedster in their undershirt and boxer-briefs. Though he hadn't been aware they were this far into whatever it was between them just yet.

Barry shook his head, not really annoyed as his smile gave away his amusement. Getting out of the bed he replied, "Let me get a wash cloth or something."

Once at the door though he turned and added, "I brought some soup and sandwiches for us to eat. Did you want me to warm them up and eat in here or in the living room?"

Len got up as well, deciding he had slept enough and responded, "Living room. I can wash up on my own, just warm up the food."

The speedster protested, "Len, you're injured."

"That doesn't make me an invalid, kid," he replied firmly. He did not want to be coddled.

"Fine, whatever," Barry huffed and promptly sped off.

When Len entered the bathroom, he found it to be the cleanest he had ever seen it. There was also a wash cloth and soap waiting on the counter for him to use. His speedster had been busy cleaning house apparently. It was too bad Len had let his pride get in the way, or he could have had Barry's hands rubbing over his chest. The bite wound was also a bitch to re-bandage by himself.

Once he finished, Len headed towards the kitchen to help out with the food. He chose to forgo a shirt since his shoulder was too sore. Besides, he was curious as to how many times he could catch the speedster staring at his tattoos.

He was not disappointed, as that was the first thing the young man stared at when Len came into the room. Barry hadn't really noticed them till now since the lights had been off in the bedroom. But the kitchen lighting made them quite obvious.

The tattoos themselves were on both of Len's arms from his shoulders to his elbows. The tribal styled lightning bolts being pure black ink, while the snowflakes he had here and there were given a little smidgen of blue to soften them. He hadn't wanted anything too colorful.

"How's the soup," Len asked with a smirk.

Barry sputtered, "Wha--oh! Uh, the soup is almost done heating up! I wasn't sure what kind you liked so I got chicken noodle. Is that alright?"

Len made sure to get good and close to Barry's side as he replied, "More than."

He then stepped away to get water from the fridge, leaving a mortified and blushing speedster in his wake.

\----

Going over a few test results on her computer, Caitlin hadn't known someone had entered the labs till she was startled by a knock on the glass. Thankfully, it was just Iris who apologized for giving her a scare.

"What are you working on," she then asked curiously.

"Oh, remember when you posted that video of Barry singing," Caitlin reminded. Receiving a nod in response, she continued with, "Well earlier we had found a syringe filled with someone's blood inside as it turns out."

"Who's blood is it," Iris replied slightly disturbed.

"Farooq Gibran, or Blackout as Cisco called him," Caitlin answered.

"Wasn't he the meta-human that took away Barry's powers?"

"Yes, and we were going to dispose of it, but Barry suggested looking into it more to see if it could possibly be used as a pain killer for him," she explained.

It was a good idea in theory, but research was proving fruitless so far. It specifically had to target and slow Barry's metabolism in order to work as an agent that allowed normal pain killers to work. Their sample was limited, and with the body having been lost when Barry used the accelerator to go back in time, Caitlin couldn't do very many tests. There was also no real way to tell if it was still able to remove Barry's speed or not when his blood samples were mixed with it. And they were not going to inject Barry with just anything.

Caitlin sighed and admitted, "I haven't made too much progress just yet. Anyway, how are you? Did you need my help with something?"

"Oh, I had actually brought over something from the Queen's Ball last night. It was used against the people who attacked us," Iris stated taking out the same bat-shaped object from before.

Felicity had been stumped and was unable to find anything on the projectile other than its alloys and sharp pointy ends which pricked her. Caitlin was certainly fascinated by it, and nearly poked herself on it.

"I'm afraid we'll have to wait for Cisco. This is more along his expertise," she pointed out.

"Alright, and speaking of, did he decide where he's holding his party," Iris replied putting the object back in the plastic bag.

"He's renting a room so we can keep the party casual but private," Caitlin informed.

"That's great! Do you think he'd let me invite a few others then since it won't be near any Flash stuff," Iris questioned hopefully.

"I'm not sure about that, especially since he texted me earlier and said Lisa Snart invited herself to the party. And I have no doubt she'll bring her brother along too," Caitlin responded.

"Oh, wow, that's a bummer. Does he realize the Arrow is going to be there," Iris replied in both disappointment and worry.

"He does, which is why he's going to have Barry inform him, if not wait till the very last minute and hope for the best."

Both women were quiet for a moment before Iris said with finality, "Someone's going to get shot."

"I'll bring a medical kit," Caitlin said as she walked off to make one.

\----

Since this was more of a safe house rather than an actual home, Len had no real movies stashed for them to watch. So they were left surfing channels until they could agree on watching HGTV ironically.

"Which Property Brother is your favorite," Barry asked curiously, already on his second helping of soup.

"Jonathan, because he does the actual labor and knows how," Len replied, trying to ignore how fast the other could eat. He had told the kid not to hold back on his account.

They resumed eating, neither really wanting to address the elephant in the room. Len was hoping to enjoy this mundane yet sweet moment for as long as possible. Barry wanted to do the same, even though he knew it was cowardly to avoid the subject. They had all night to talk about a possible romantic relationship between them though.

So they continued to eat comfortably in silence until a commercial about jewelry popped up and reminded Barry enough to ask, "Selina is a thief too, isn't she?"

"Indeed, her moniker is Catwoman," Len answered.

"Aren't you helpful today? Usually it's like pulling teeth to get information from you," Barry questioned skeptically. He had also finished his second bowl and went to grab a sandwich.

"I'm in a good mood," Len purposefully replied vaguely. The speedster and his team would have figured it out on their own since Selina did have a record on file from GCPD.

Barry rolled his eyes at that and sat back down on the couch. He then asked, "Why Catwoman though?"

Len shrugged his uninjured shoulder as he said, "To go with her outfit. I haven't seen it yet, though I hear it's made from tripolymer weave."

"Well now I'm curious about it," Barry stated. He had assumed the material that made up his own costume was exclusive to just scientists and the military.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you, Scarlet, that curiosity killed the cat?" Len said, unable to resist the pun.

"But satisfaction brought him back," Barry countered with a smirk, which then grew into a triumphant smile once he realized he had rendered the older man speechless.

"Aw, cat got your tongue," he teased.

Getting over his surprise, Len challenged playfully, "I don't know, why don't you make like a curious kitty and find out?"

It was then his turn to smirk as he rendered Barry mute and looking away with a furious blush. The speedster didn't stay shy for too long though as he turned back around to face him. Barry's eyes then kept going from staring at Len's eyes to his lips.

Their food forgotten, both men started to lean in towards the other, intent on finishing what they started the other night. But then Barry paused and looked off to the side.

Was he having second thoughts? Were they going too fast? Did Len have bad breath? No, wait, what was that smell?

"Is it just me or is that smoke?" Barry whispered, his eyes starting to widen in shock.

\----

After their encounter with the Ramon brothers, Lisa and Selina had visited a few more jewelry stores, casing only the large chain companies. They eventually stopped at a local jewelry store owned by a small family.

"I want to surprise my boyfriend," Lisa mock whispered to the clerk as she presented Cisco's Vader watch up for repair.

Since it was worn from age, it had been quite loose and too easy for Selina to slip it off of him. Something had to be done to tighten it back up.

"How long should it take to fix," Lisa asked curious.

"Oh, not long at all, fifteen minutes at most," the clerk replied and got to work right away. Lisa watched with some interest, asking the sales woman questions here and there in polite conversation.

Looking about briefly, she could tell times were probably tough for this family as most of the jewelry on sale were being sold for less than their worth. They were also the only ones offering free repair work. The other clerk helping Selina go over rings looked to be related to the elderly woman in front of her too. Cordial questions revealed she was a granddaughter. Her nervousness and eagerness to please explained away by the fact that this was her first job.

Since she was going to be staying for an indeterminate amount of time, Selina decided to buy herself a memento. She usually favored emeralds in sterling silver and pear shaped, but debated whether or not to deviate this time around.

Then, one particular ring caught her eye and so she pointed and asked, "Does this one come in sterling?"

"The emerald snowflake," her clerk asked to be sure. Giving a nod, the girl unlocked a drawer below and answered, "Yes! We also have it with either sapphire, ruby, and amethyst."

"I'd like to stick to emerald for now, Lisa, come see this," Selina responded and motioned the other woman over.

Lisa did so and gushed, "Ooh, that's ridiculously adorable!"

"Did you want one? They could be our form of club rings," Selina offered as she gestured to the other gemstone choices.

Lisa smiled though her eyes seemed wary of the offer. At Selina's eye roll and partly chiding expression, she realized the overture was sincere, and said, "Sure! Though I prefer gold and diamonds."

The elderly clerk came around to join them after completing repairs to the watch. She handed it over and bent down to retrieve a few more rings from their bottom shelves.

"These are all the snowflake options we have available in store. Though we can look up and order something to your specifications if you're willing to wait a few days for the delivery," she then informed.

"We have options for layaway too," the younger lady offered anxiously.

Selina hummed before asking, "How much for the down payment?"

"Standard down payment is $50," the first clerk answered.

With that said, they had their middle fingers sized, as both women wanted to wear their rings there. Filled out a form or two, and signed the papers. Lisa left some tip money for the repairs done on the watch too, despite being told she didn't have to.

They were then off to find costumes! Of course most of the stores were nearly out at this point, and what little they had to offer were tacky and tasteless. It was only thanks to google that they discovered a local hole in the wall store that still had outfits in stock.

"Which version of Leia should I go as: slave or princess? Slave or princess? Slave? Or princess," Lisa asked as she pressed each costume against her chest, switching them about when needed.

"Princess. Slave is for special, private occasions," Selina replied without looking at her friend.

She was still browsing for her own costume, definitely liking the options this particular store had. They weren't the typically sexualized outfits that were sold to women. Rather they were as accurate as possible to their source material.

"Oh look! They have a Flash costume," Lisa announced with fake glee.

"How often do you encounter him," Selina asked carefully.

"When Lenny's in the mood to play. He keeps him distracted by flirting outrageously. Not that 'Scarlet' is smart enough to notice," Lisa griped.

She could agree that the full-body leather was hot, but other than that she saw no reason for her brother to be so obsessed. Barry, on the other hand, was adorable from what she'd gleaned of him so far. And he practically took a bullet for her brother at the ball!

Selina took a moment to sympathize with Len, as she knew what it was like to deal with the hero types. The thrill and excitement of challenging them, besting them. Then the boring and typical spiel they always gave about being good. She didn't say anything though, instead snatching the first all-black costume she found.

When she tried it on and realized what it was, she couldn't help smiling in delight.

"It fits purrfectly," Selina announced as she stepped out of the dressing room.

Lisa stared at her blankly before laughing, "I swear, you and Lenny are such dorks!"

"Speaking of, are you going to invite him along for the party," Selina asked, choosing to ignore the jibe.

"Of course, and maybe another Rogue or two..." Lisa replied with a playful smile as she pulled out her phone to make a few calls.

Their costumes and date to rent them chosen, the women headed off once again to continue on with their day.

Though a stray cat running in front of them and into an alleyway interrupted.

"What the fuck, cat!" Lisa griped having nearly been tripped over.

"It was spooked by something, come on," Selina asserted before pulling the other woman along to follow the feline.

The alleyway looked like any other alley and they found the cat hadn't gone too far despite it being puffed up in fear.

"We're being followed," Selina informed as she found a place to hide. She also took out a pair of gloves and a small whip from her purse.

Lisa's good mood left her instantly at that, and she hid herself too. It was then just a matter of moments before two men came in to find their whereabouts. Thankfully, it was evening so the lighting was dark enough for them to assault the thugs without being seen.

"Who the hell sent you? Maroni?" Lisa demanded, holding a gun to one of their heads. They had knocked out the other one.

"Go ahead and kill me, bitch, cause I'm no squealer!"

Selina took over, wrapping her whip around his neck and demanding sweetly, "That's no way to talk to a lady! Now tell us what we want or I'll have you fixed."

She held a gloved hand with diamond tipped claws in front of his face to let him know she had the tools necessary for the job.

Interrogation went smoothly after that, but what they found out was anything but good. The Maroni's had had two parts to their plan. The first, was to kidnap and sell Lisa Snart to make up for all the money the Santini's had lost. The second, had Selina and Lisa rushing back to the safe house as fast as legally possible.

Yet when they got there, they found it to be completely ablaze. Firefighters were working on putting it out and police were out to control traffic. Selina had to drive by and act like they weren't headed there. When they were finally clear of the scene, Lisa dialed her brother's phone trying but failing to keep calm.

\----

Len was kneeling in front of Joe West's toilet when he heard his phone vibrating on the floor.

He wiped his mouth before picking it up and answering, "Lis?"

"Oh my fucking shit, Len! Are you alright? Where the fuck are you?! That fucker we questioned earlier said they were going to burn you alive and we found the safe house was on fucking fire!"

"Language," Len attempted to scold. It didn't work very well due to his throat being raw.

"Shut the fuck up! And tell me you're fucking okay!" Lisa demanded.

"I'm fine, nauseous but fine. Barry has work tomorrow, but he didn't want to leave me alone, so he brought me to his house," Len explained carefully. It was a lie, but he couldn't say Flash saved him.

Then, something she said clicked and he asked, "What do you mean questioned? Were you going after the Maroni's on your own?"

"Of course not! Two of their thugs were following us and we beat them up to find out why," Lisa retorted.

"They know what car you're in. You need to get another one. Find Mick, hole up in another part of town, contact the other Rogues if necessary to let them know what is going on," Len instructed.

"Alright, but what about you? Do you need us to pick you up?"

"No, I'll be fine. I need to contact the Flash and call in his debt to me. I'll contact you tomorrow to let you know how it goes," Len replied. He then hung up before his sister could get anymore sentimental, probably pissing her off by doing so.

He'd make it up to her later, but for now Len simply leaned back against the bathroom wall as he tried to concentrate on calming his stomach. Barry had had to phase him not only through a wall again but fire too. It resulted in him puking up what little he had eaten.

And since they hadn't left till the very last second, because there were the weapons, his parka, laptop, and some meds to retrieve first -- oh and Barry's clothes -- Len also had some ash and smoke inhalation to deal with. His bite wound had decided to reopen and bleed as well.

Needless to say, he wanted to sit back and relax for a little while. Though he was interrupted once again. Only this time it was Detective West barging in with his gun aimed at him.

"Joe, stop! He's unarmed! He can't do anything! Please, don't shoot!" Barry pleaded behind him.

Len simply stared back wanting to glare, but knowing his eyes were glistening too much from his puking earlier. He doubted he would be shot though, since what Barry said was true. He was unarmed, an invited guest by the speedster himself, and clearly injured. Then again, Joe West was a cop who had bent the rules before. He wasn't as bad as Snart Sr had been by any means, but he was still a cop.

The tension was broken by Len's nausea which caused him to surge forward and let it go in the toilet once again.

Joe finally lowered his gun and sighed, "Well you were honest about one thing, Barr. He is as sick as a dog."

Barry groaned as the pun reminded him of the lie he gave Joe earlier.

\----

A short time later, Len was still in the bathroom, but finally over his nausea and rinsing out his mouth with mouth wash.

There was a knock on the door as Barry asked, "Can I come in?"

"It's your house, Scarlet," Len replied.

Opening the door slightly and taking a quick peak let Barry know the other man was decent before getting into restroom with him.

"I brought some spare clothes, water and ibuprofen. That way you can shower, and once you're done I'll rewrap your shoulder," Barry explained, placing said items on the counter.

"Care to join me, or did Daddy West forbid you," Len teased.

"He left to stay at Iris's actually. He didn't want to tempt himself and find an excuse to shoot you," the speedster admitted.

"Then you have no excuse not to join me," Len pointed out.

Barry rolled his eyes, "Len, be serious. We have to talk about what happened at your safe house."

Now it was Len's turn to be exasperated, but instead of rolling his eyes he took off the slightly tattered pajama bottoms he had been wearing. Revealing in the process that he had been going commando this entire time.

Despite being the fastest man alive, Barry had not been quick enough to look away and his eyes were now glued to Len's dick. It was long, thick and slightly darker in skin tone. The hair around it looking to be neatly trimmed too, which just made it look bigger.

Barry felt torn and couldn't decide if he'd prefer to suck or get fucked by that cock.

Len suddenly gripped his chin, making Barry meet his eyes as he said, "Keep staring and I'll put that mouth of yours to good use."

The speedster would have blushed if all the blood in his body weren't already down south. Seeing the smudges of ash on Len's face worked as a reminder though and he managed to babble, "Uh...fire?"

Sighing, Len stepped back and got into the shower. When he closed the curtain he asserted, "Mick didn't do it."

Taking a bit to shake himself out of his horny stupor, Barry replied, "I figured as much. He would have been there to enjoy it."

Calming down further as the other showered, Barry sat himself on the toilet and started to rattle off, "From what I could see when we ran out, the house had a perimeter of fire that was too evenly spread. Someone must have doused gasoline all around it while we slept.

Then, a small timed bomb was placed in the attic. Small, because they didn't want us to wake up and find out what was going on. And the attic because the fire's smoke would have spread throughout the ventilation system and killed us as we unknowingly breathed it in.

But something went wrong. It didn't go off on time and we were awake so we could smell the smoke developing from it. So the attackers panicked and threw whatever bombs they could to get their fire going faster, and that's when we heard the glass shattering in the study."

Len was impressed. He was aware that Barry worked as a CSI but he hadn't ever seen the kid in action. It was definitely useful.

Then Barry questioned, "Since the house belonged to the Santinis, is it safe to assume they've hired someone to try and kill you?"

Instead of answering Len asked, "Do you have a spare loofah?"

"Oh yeah, hold on," Barry replied startled by the question, his politeness taking over. He snatched one at random from under the sink and grinned when he realized it was light blue.

He then tried to hand it over to Len without looking through the shower curtain when the older man grabbed his arm and brought it in towards his chest anyway. Barry shouted in slight protest.

Yet Len didn't pull him in further, just held onto Barry's right arm, kissing his hand and then resting his cheek on it. He didn't often seek affection, and he hated himself for trying to take this much. But what he had to say was proving difficult.

Thankfully, it was easier to admit things with the curtain between them as Len eventually confessed, "You're right. I've had a bounty on my head for a while now, and I could handle it.

Trouble is, they have connections outside of Central City that have decided to help them out. And they're not picky as to which Snart they get."

"They've gone after Lisa?" Barry asked in concern.

"She was followed today, and from what Selina has told me, these men from the Maroni family work in slave trading."

Barry pushed the curtain aside, not caring that water was going to get everywhere on him and on the floor. He had to see Len's face as he said, "Len, I promise, I'll do everything I can to keep the two of you safe."

He could see the sincere determination behind Barry's eyes, and it scared him to see such kindness directed at him. Len had to look away.

Now it was Barry's turn to take him by the chin, but he didn't bother to say anything. Only pressing his mouth against Len's as a physical reassurance.

Finally, Len managed to get Barry in the shower with him.

-tbc

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this was supposed to be the last chapter, but it got so long that the suggestion to make another chapter from [Kipsi](http://archiveofourown.org/users/kipsi) is what I wound up going with. So there's going to be another chapter that's just about Cisco's party. It will probably be much shorter than this one turned out to be, but oh well XD


	6. Take a Chance on Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cisco worries if his party is really going to be successful or not, especially since more than one Rogue has decided to attend. Meanwhile, Barry continues to fret about Len.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta read by Kipsi so all them colons is her fault. Oh and a few scenes in here.

It was quick and easy work for Barry to use his speed and get himself out of his partly wet clothes and then into the shower to join Len. Their kisses didn't stay soft for long either as they stood chest to chest embracing each other loosely so their hands could explore. Their cocks came into contact with every other shift too, which left the speedster whimpering and yearning for more.

Barry pressed forward, grasping Len's face gently, and taking a moment to remember the mirrored copy from before. It had been so cold. Nothing like the real Len who was warm, his pupils dilated as much as Barry's own, his lips chapped and his beauty mark in the correct spot.

"There a reason you're smiling at me like that, Scarlet," Len asked, displaying a tiny unsure smile of his own.

"Your mole," Barry admitted sheepishly.

Receiving a raised brow in response he explained, "When Scudder shot me, I was teleported to some other dimension. I had no idea what was happening, because all I could see was another masquerade party going on with everyone in more extravagant costumes, including my own."

"Did this costume happen to have a tiara," Len asked playfully. He didn't like the memory of Barry taking a shot for him, so he chose to concentrate on something more trivial.

"Yes, I'll show it to you later," Barry replied more amused than annoyed. He continued with, "You were the only one there that I completely recognized. But it wasn't until I got up close and saw that your mole was on the wrong side that I realized it was all a reflection."

Len was bemused at that and wound up questioning, "Should I be flattered that you've stared at me long enough to know that detail?"

This caused Barry to sputter in embarrassment, but fortunately Len's stomach gave him a reprieve by rumbling quite loudly. Reminding them both of what they had gone through earlier.

"I'm sorry, I completely forgot you were injured, and oh my god, you're bleeding," Barry apologized as he did a quick assessment of the other man's body. Aside from the shoulder bite, there was also a cut on Len's hand that looked angry with a possible infection. It wasn't as large as the other so it was easy to see why it had been ignored.

"It's fine. Rather make out with you anyway," Len admitted, which earned him a smile but not another kiss.

Instead, Barry was all business as he set to washing them both up from the soot and ash that covered parts of them. If the two of them happened to cop a feel or two of certain areas, neither of them complained.

\----

Bathed, properly bandaged, and clothed, Len felt so much better than before. In fact, he felt so content he didn't even think to protest when Barry decided to carry him around bridal style instead of letting him walk the few feet it took to reach the speedster's bedroom.

For such a slim guy he was quite strong. Probably due to his powers.

Laying the older man down on his bed, Barry asked, "I'm going to make us some sandwiches to eat before bed. What type would you like?"

"Ham with mustard," Len replied calmly. Wanting something simple for his stomach to handle.

"For real? You don't want any cheese or...?" Barry asked, thinking that was a little plain.

Len replied bluntly, "I'm lactose intolerant, kid."

"I'm pretty sure cheddar cheese is lactose free, and if we don't have it, I can always get it," Barry pointed out helpfully. Len grunted his assent in response, if only to humor him.

It took the speedster no time at all to get their food ready, but by the time he came back Len had snooped around enough to find the tiara on his own.

"I should scold you for going through my stuff, but I'm actually impressed you found that in thirty seconds," Barry half-heartedly complained.

"Twenty-two seconds," Len corrected, fiddling with the clasp. He liked the design and how it merged their two symbols together. He was also curious as to why and how that world produced what appeared to be finely cut diamonds. And he wanted to know if there was a way for him to use it to his advantage.

Rolling his eyes, the speedster handed over the sandwich and chips he had brought for his guest to eat along with a bottle of water. Barry then sat on the other side of his bed, and dug into his own sandwich that was far more filling as it had lettuce, tomato, mayo, ham, cheese, and some potato chips for the crunch factor. It was delicious.

Setting the tiara between them, Len took his time eating, and contemplated whether or not he should try and convince Scudder to join his Rogues. The man had been an asshole, but his technology more than made up for his personality. It would also be a lot safer used for Cold rather than against him. Rules would have to be set of course, but Len could figure those out with Lisa later.

If the man refused, it would be better for Len to ice him now before he became a real problem.

"Should I be worried that you're plotting something?" Barry said interrupting his thoughts.

Deciding to withhold what he had really been pondering, Len stated, "I was just trying to imagine the getup you had to wear with this."

"Oh, I can draw it out," Barry replied, getting up to retrieve a sketchbook and pencil from his desk. He had already finished his food.

It took around a minute for Barry to complete the sketch, and since the other wasn't done eating he held it out for Len to see.

He noted the bared shoulders, puffy sleeves, coattails, the lightning patterns on the vest, and its dipped collar. It was a delicate look that accentuated the speedster's delectable neck, and teased at the pert chest beneath. The pants and shoes were simple by comparison, but it balanced out the intricacy of the rest. The tiara had been the most extravagant piece, but Len felt Barry should have had more like a necklace and earrings to complete the ensemble. And perhaps a ring as well?

Stopping that thought before it ran away from him, the thief simply stated, "Cute."

Barry wasn't sure what response he was expecting, but 'cute' didn't sound that impressed. It was a stupid look anyway. So he sat back and turned the page to draw some more, specifically what Len had been wearing.

When he was done he showed it to the other and said, "This is what you were wearing."

Something in Barry's tone gave away that he seemed a bit more somber than he had been a second ago. So after getting a good look at the drawing, Len suddenly asked, "Did you watch a lot of Labyrinth as a kid?"

"Not unless Iris forced me to, why?" Barry was reluctant to admit.

"I'm fairly sure David Bowie wore that suit."

Bemused Barry responded, "Um, okay...?"

"Did you have a crush on him?" Len asked casually.

"What? No! I liked Sara!" Barry exclaimed in protest.

"Sara was pretty for her age, but she was a brat," Len pointed out.

Barry hadn't seen the movie in a while, but he had to argue, "But she grew up in the end!"

"Not really. You know that entire movie was about going through puberty, right? So there's nothing wrong if you had a crush on Bowie," Len playfully reassured.

"I did not have a crush on him!" the speedster continued to deny. He found himself having unintentionally moved closer to the other man during their discussion, but he refused to back away.

It was just as well, because Len used it to his advantage and gave him a chaste kiss before saying, "You're cute when you're mad."

Sufficiently flustered, Barry rolled his eyes before muttering, "I guess I should be grateful you haven't pointed out how girly my outfit had been."

"Well since you brought it up--" Len started to say, intent on mentioning how it looked like a male version of Sara's getup.

Yet Barry would have none of it as he ordered, "No! Eat your sandwich, then we're going to bed!"

Len obeyed, albeit with a smug smirk as Barry set his sketchpad on his desk and placed the tiara on top of it. When he was done eating, the lights were then turned off and the two of them tucked into bed.

Still feeling a little playful though, Len said, "Hey Barry?"

Not feeling all that tired either, Barry replied, "What?"

"You remind me of the babe," Len responded with an obvious smirk in his voice.

"Oh my god!" Barry exclaimed in both dread and partial excitement. Where was his nemesis going with this?

"The babe with the power," he continued to recite.

"No, don't start," Barry only half-protested.

So Len kept going with, "Power of voodoo."

"I don't want to sing this right now," Barry whined, especially since he didn't remember the lyrics.

"You do," Len responded.

"I swear, Len," Barry tried to say without laughing. He was only partly successful.

"Remind me of the babe," he received in reply.

"I'm going to smother you," the speedster finally threatened.

That only encouraged Len to sing, "I saw my baby, crying hard as babe could--"

Barry had followed up on his threat, interrupting Len before he could sing much more. But he had done so by pressing his mouth against the other man's instead of smacking him with a pillow. He preferred feeling Len's smile against his lips anyway, and hearing the small moan the other man gave when he bit and sucked on his lower lip. Tilting his head allowed him better access and let him deepen the kiss too.

"Do you smother everyone with your mouth, Barry?" Len questioned playfully when they needed some air.

"No, just you," he teased in return, resuming their kiss a moment after and gently groping Len.

\----

The next morning found Barry alone in bed. He somewhat panicked before spotting his sketchbook on top of the pillow Len had used. The older man had taken one of his drawings and left a message on a blank page.

'Thanks for the hospitality, but had to leave early to settle some business. Will contact you soon. -L.S.'

What type of business did he mean? Was it about the Rogues? The issue with the mafia?

Barry snatched his phone, intent on sending a text before stopping himself. He needed to give Len the benefit of the doubt and not assume he was off to do something stupid while still injured. Captain Cold was a lot of things, but reckless about his and Lisa's safety he was not. Barry would just have to wait till the other man contacted him.

The speedster hated waiting.

Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on whom was asked, Joe came in with his eyes closed and knocking as he greeted, "You two decent?"

"It's just me," Barry informed solemnly.

"Oh, thank god! Last thing I want is to see him naked," Joe muttered.

"Why are you assuming we've slept together?" Barry questioned skeptically.

"You mean you haven't yet?" Joe countered in both hope and pleasant surprise.

Scandalized and partly worried, Barry exclaimed, "What? No! And what the hell--you of all--wouldn't you be mad if--"

"Of course I'd be mad, Barry! It's Leonard Snart! It was bad enough when you had that crush on Oliver Queen, but now Snart? A career criminal? That's insanely stupid!

But since you two haven't done what I've feared, is it safe to assume that that drama is over?"

The unsure and sheepish shrug he received in reply did nothing to relieve Joe of his worries. But before he could get into it again, Barry reassured, "Look, Len and I haven't done anything like that. We're just--" he paused unsure of what to say.

"You're just what, Barry?" Joe asked his concern growing along with the silence. He certainly didn't like hearing that his son was already on a first name basis with the thief.

Barry sighed, "Honestly? I don't even know. We haven't really discussed it. All I know is that we're not really enemies anymore."

"He's not an ally either," Joe was quick to point out.

"But he helped the Arrow and his team take down Scudder," Barry was quick to say in defense.

"So what? That's supposed to erase all that he's done to you and your friends?" Joe questioned. He highly doubted Caitlin or Cisco would be in support of this relationship developing into anything serious. Not with what Snart had done to them.

"Of course not! I'm not going to ignore all that he's done! We just haven't had a chance to talk things out," Barry replied, knowing he wasn't going to win this argument.

Thankfully, Joe knew nothing more needed to be said on the subject, at least for now. So he left the room so his son could start getting ready for work. He had a feeling it was going to be one of those days.

\----

' _Are you alright?_ ' Barry sent to Len via text a few hours later. He was currently at work standing by for various test results, and he couldn't remain quiet any longer.

His discussion with Joe had left him with a lot to think over, specifically how he needed to stop postponing the talk between himself and Len in regards to their current status with each other. In addition, they needed to go over how they would handle any potential conflicts with their friends or family if the two of them became seriously involved.

Barry also thought over what he would really want out of the relationship if it did go the romantic route. For all he knew, Len just wanted a friends with benefits relationship or was currently using Barry's desire against him. He had already been doing so with his teasing and flirting before the mirror incident. Would that change?

When he received a reply it read, ' _Peachy._ '

Growling in frustration, Barry wanted to bang his head against the wall but didn't want to go through the pain of it. Len's answer was too damn vague and offered little to nothing in regards to lessening his worry.

"Hey, Barr, you alright?" Eddie asked as he came into the room. He was bringing over some new files for the CSI to go over.

"Yeah, I'm just worried about Len--I mean--uh..." Barry cut himself off, realizing what he just revealed again and then floundering for a plausible lie to play it off.

Eddie took pity on him though and explained, "I already knew, thanks to Joe's complaints and Iris telling me about the ball."

"Oh my god, who doesn't know?" Barry asked incredulously.

It took a moment for Eddie to think it over before replying, "I would say Captain Singh, but he read that SCPD report which mentioned you getting shot and Snart being involved in stopping the crooks. So he doesn't quite know the specifics of the relationship between you two, but he is aware that you took a hit for him."

This time Barry did let his head hit his desk a few times in frustration. His Captain knowing his love life was the last thing he needed. Hopefully it was never brought up to Barry and he wouldn't have to go through a very uncomfortable interrogation. Though knowing Barry's luck it was just a matter of time.

"Sorry, Barry," Eddie winced in sympathy.

"Not your fault," Barry muttered before gesturing towards the folders in Eddie's hand by asking, "Need help with those?"

"Oh yeah, these are from the other CSIs on that fire you were in last night, and these are from another Mendoza case," Eddie explained as he handed the files over. He hastily added, "And don't worry, none of them suspect that you were there. As far as anyone knows, the house had been empty."

"I thought we resolved the issue with the Mendozas?" Barry questioned as he set that folder aside. He was grateful to have managed at least some semblance of secrecy among his peers.

"I thought so too, but then another body of theirs showed up. According to a witness, the victim was fighting someone from the Santini family, demanding the return of their sister, before they were killed," Eddie informed.

The word sister reminded Barry of what Len had confided to him last night. Lisa had been followed by men with the last name of Maroni. So he started to bring up a list of living Santini members and trying to find out if any happened to have relatives by that last name. He perused the Mendoza file while he waited for the internet to load up. His speed made everything slow.

"Whoa, want to explain to me what you're doing," Eddie questioned as he saw his friend move about faster than normal, or as normal as he's supposed to while at work.

"Sorry, it's just I'm pretty sure these two cases are related, but I need to find the link," Barry replied as he was now going over the list of names.

Sure enough, there was a relation by marriage between the two families. And quite a few members from the Maroni family had criminal records from GCPD, which included current photos.

Sending them to print, Barry started explaining, "Len said his sister was followed last night when the house was set on fire. The Santini's have a bounty on both of their heads and have called in reinforcements from Gotham."

Grabbing the papers from the printer and looking them over, Eddie whistled before saying, "Wow, these guys are one of the bigger crime families in that city. Their main rivals being the Falcones. They are no joke."

"You're familiar with them?" Barry asked.

"Only what I've read of their crimes which include: murder, drugs, slavery, and illegal arms deals. Oh, and some arson. Though compared to the other things I've read about that city, these crimes are light."

Barry did not like the sound of that at all and he grew even more concerned for Len. The longer he was away from Barry the closer Len was to getting hurt or killed by these maniacs!

"Has Leonard told you where he is right now or what he plans on doing about these guys?" Eddie asked, pausing briefly on the first name. He wasn't sure if using the thief's last name was appropriate or not since his friend was no longer doing it.

"I don't know, and he wasn't willing to tell me anything when I asked if he was okay," Barry admitted sadly, looking exhausted and worried.

"There's more to it than that isn't there?" Eddie hedged to guess.

It took a moment, but Barry eventually admitted, "I'm not sure what he and I are. I don't know if we're enemies, friends, or something else? There's so much we need to say but haven't and I just don't know what to do."

Eddie inquired, "Have you tried just asking him?"

"I have, but when I'm alone with him, I get so distracted by him!" Barry exclaimed in exasperation.

"So maybe you should try through a call instead? I mean, he won't be able to distract you if he's not physically here," Eddie suggested with a small smile.

Barry thought it unfair that that sounded like such a great idea and made the most logical sense to this issue.

\----

After meeting with his Rogues, Len was forced into shopping with his sister, Selina, and Shawna. The day had been grueling enough with Captain Cold having to put up with various complaints and whining from both Pied Piper and Trickster Jr. They were all under orders to lay low and cancel any heists they had planned out until this new set of mafia goons were driven out of the city. And they were not by any circumstances allowed to confront this group on their own.

Lisa had gotten them to shut up and agree by inviting them to Ramon's masquerade party, which didn't please Len at all but he couldn't control everything. None of them were aware that the Flash would be there too, and he wasn't going to be the one to reveal that fact. Rather, he acquiesced and dismissed everyone so he could go to another safe house and sleep.

His sister didn't want him out of her sight though, and so Len was taken against his will to the mall and other various clothing stores. It was one thing when Len shopped for his own wardrobe, but an entirely different beast when Lisa did so. Add two other women and Len was so bored he was tempted to let Mick-- who was suffering along with him-- start a fight in the food court.

So Len was immensely relieved when he received a call from his favorite speedster. He even greeted in a playful tone, "Barry! To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"What are we?" Barry blurted out on the other end. It wasn't what he meant to say first, but he wasn't known for having verbal control.

In an instant, Len's face went from mischievous to grim as he replied seriously, "What do you want us to be, Barry?"

He ignored Mick who was staring intently at him as if he were some Lifetime movie drama unfolding before his eyes. The pyromaniac was that bored as he waited along with Len for Barry's reply.

It wasn't too long of a wait as the other said, "I don't know, boyfriends, maybe?"

"Then boyfriends we shall be," Len agreed promptly before the speedster could suggest otherwise.

"Really? Just like that? No arguments over this being a bad idea?" Barry questioned skeptically.

"Oh it's a colossally bad idea, especially since I'm notoriously known to be a possessive asshole, but you have already offered and I have accepted. No taking it back," Len stated calmly.

"Wow, okay, well if we're boyfriends, then you have to tell me where you are and what you're up to so I know you're really alright," Barry reasoned.

"The mall, holding my sister's proverbial purse," Len replied simply. They didn't have to be boyfriends for him to answer that question.

"For real? I thought you had 'business' to take care of?" Barry asked, now irritated that he had worried for nothing.

"That was this morning. Oh, and expect a few more guests to be attending Ramon's party," Len informed as an afterthought.

There was silence on the other end as Barry had a mini freak out realizing his Rogues would be interacting with not only team Flash but team Arrow and Firestorm!

"Barry?" Len asked wondering if they had lost signal.

"Oliver and Felicity are going to be there, and--and--some other friends--hero friends--oh my god," Barry babbled in return.

"How close of a friend is Mr. Queen?" Len inquired. He didn't like how often the billionaire got mentioned or was around his boyfriend in general.

"What? Oh my--he's straight Len! And I wouldn't do that to my friend," Barry argued.

"I'm not hearing you deny that you find him attractive," Len stated displeased.

"Fine, I had a crush on him! Had okay, had, as in used to, but not anymore, because I'm over it," Barry asserted firmly. How ridiculous was Len going to be about this topic? Then again, the older man had just claimed to be possessive earlier so maybe Barry should have expected it?

"Good. Now what are you wearing to the party?" Len asked, curious. Mick got up to buy a snack at this point.

Barry responded by letting his head hit his work desk a few times in frustration.

"Barry, I know you heal, but please stop damaging that pretty face," Len lightly reprimanded.

"You think I'm pretty?" Barry blurted in surprise, and then rolled his own eyes at how stupid that sounded. He was not some insecure teenager!

"Tsk, tsk, now what part where I compared your eyes to diamonds do you not remember?" Len reminded. He didn't dole out compliments of that caliber often. Though to be honest he hardly ever gave someone any form of flattery.

Len then smirked smugly as he heard how flustered he had made the speedster on the other end of the line. He could just see the blush covering his cheeks, making Barry's eyes brighten and his lips swell enough to tempt him into kissing them.

Suddenly, his wanton thoughts were interrupted by Mick thrusting some cookies in his face. The arsonist had gotten them both something to eat, and knew how much of a sweet tooth his partner had. So Len accepted his half-dozen: two chewy chocolate supremes, two white macadamias and two chocolate chips with M&M's.

His hum of enjoyment as he bit into one of the supremes got Barry's attention and prompted him to ask, "What are you doing?"

"Eating a sinfully delicious cookie," Len replied, taking another bite.

"Oooh, I know what cookie you're talking about," Barry stated in return. He remembered how much Iris loved those cookies and often described the chocolate supremes as sin itself.

Barry wasn't particular in regards to cookies, they were all delicious, but he could see the appeal of this one. And at least now he had something he could use on Len later if he needed or wanted to.

Remembering his boyfriend's-- which they officially were now-- original question, Barry answered, "I'm going as Hook, from that show Once Upon a Time. Cisco already made the costume and he's going as Jack Sparrow so we can be matching pirates."

"I'm having a hard time imagining you with a beard," Len replied as he took his time eating, exaggerating his enjoyment of it. He ignored Mick who was staring pointedly at him.

"I've already started growing it in," Barry mentioned.

"Pictures or I won't believe it," Len ordered playfully.

Barry wanted to argue at how silly that request was when he heard Captain Singh yelling and coming towards his office. So he relented and said swiftly, "Fine, I'll send you a picture, but I gotta get back to work! Let me know when I'll next see you in a text, okay? Bye!"

Len pouted at his phone before setting it aside and eating his cookie like a normal person.

"So how's the Flash doing?" Mick asked as he resumed eating his spicy chicken sandwich.

Len gave him a sideways glare but all it earned him in response was a shrug and short explanation of, "You only pout when the Flash is involved."

"Maybe my boyfriend is just that important to me," Len reasoned and emphasized the word boyfriend. He then grabbed one of the macadamia cookies.

"Whatever," Mick dismissed. He knew he was right.

Before he had a chance to argue further, Len's phone buzzed with an image of Barry with some peach fuzz and an unsure grin. It was certainly a different look on him than what Len was used to seeing. Not bad, but certainly not roguish enough to be a pirate yet. He briefly contemplated how that would feel against his skin before sending a reply.

\----

Captain Singh had only walked by his office rather than into it, which meant Barry was more than safe enough to send a picture and then wait for a reply. He continued doing his work though, just in case his boss changed his mind and did come in at any moment. Plus, there were still cases to be solved and he wasn't being paid to chat with his boyfriend.

The reply he received read, ' _Cute ;) Not sure when Lisa will release me from her clutches. She's in a rare protective mood. But I will be seeing you at the party._ '

' _Are you sure you don't want me to dash in and sneak you away?_ ' Barry texted back. He was relieved to know that someone was keeping Len safe, and who better than family?

' _That is sweet of you to offer, but I don't require a knight in scarlet armor just yet._ ' Len sent in response.

' _Fine. Then don't complain to me when Lisa asks which shoes go best with her lipstick,_ ' Barry replied. He knew how shopping with sisters often went thanks to Iris. She had Caitlin and Linda to go shopping with now, but sometimes she still dragged Barry around for it.

When he didn't receive a reply back, he could only assume Len was preoccupied with other things since he was at the mall. A very public place that the mafia would most likely try to avoid, especially if they're out to kill someone.

Speaking of violence, Barry realized he hadn't informed Oliver of the extra guests that would be attending Cisco's Halloween party. He wasn't looking forward to that call at all.

Maybe telling Felicity instead would work in his favor?

Barry chose to wait till he was having lunch and had had some time to think of what he was going to say before calling his friend in Star City.

"Hey Barry, what's up?" Felicity said in greeting.

"Hey, listen, about the party--" he started to say.

"It's not canceled, is it?" she questioned right away in a panic. She had searched high and low for the perfect set of costumes!

"No! No, it's still on! I just--um--there's going to be more guests than we expected?" Barry managed to explain, but sounded unsure.

"And these guests don't know you're the Flash?" Felicity guessed.

"No--I mean--one of them does, but not the others," Barry replied.

"Okay, so I'll be sure no one spills the beans at the party," she reasoned.

Nonetheless Barry added, "It's more than that, these other guests aren't exactly normal..."

"Oh, are they meta-humans like you? That's so cool!" Felicity exclaimed excited.

"What? No--no--the only other one coming is Ronnie and you've met him," he was quick to correct.

"Then who are these guys?" she then asked exasperated.

"Uh--CaptainColdHeatwaveandafewotherRogues," the speedster said in a rush.

There was a distinct pause before Felicity said with her voice in a whisper but going higher the further she spoke, "Barry, did you just say Captain Cold and his Rogues are going to be attending the party!?"

"Yeah," Barry affirmed in a partial grimace, partial shrug.

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!" was shouted through his phone.

Barry found himself regretting some life choices.

\----

Despite Felicity's roaring on the phone-- Oliver trying but failing to appease her from what Barry could hear-- the couple and the rest of team Arrow were still going to attend Cisco's party. Well, most of them, Speedy and Black Canary had opted to stay behind, because Halloween in Star City tended to be just as crime filled as any other night.

So was Central City, which was why Firestorm had volunteered to be out on patrol along with most of the officers from CCPD. This upset Caitlin, as she had been looking forward to spending time with her husband. But they couldn't leave the city entirely defenseless and the Flash deserved a break from time to time. At least that was the excuse he gave before flying off from his wife's wrath.

Len and Barry continued to send texts to each other, the speedster updating his boyfriend on his beard growth via pictures, and called when they had free time. But Lisa was keeping her brother close until he was fit or at least had the strength to leave on his own. Although even when he had recovered, Len continued to stay close so he could prevent her from doing something stupid, like killing Axel for putting itching powder in her boots.

He would never tell Barry where he was staying since the other Rogues were always nearby and he didn't think the speedster was ready to interact with them yet. At least by himself. Another fact Len kept hidden was his costume choice for the party. He simply hinted that it was black, which frustrated Barry to no end.

Then, at last, it was the night of the party itself and Barry stood nearby the entrance so he could be the first thing Len saw when he got there. He had already helped earlier with setting up the tables, decorations and karaoke machine. And all before Cisco's brother and cousin Hector came in with the food. It certainly helped to have relatives in the catering business.

So Hook stood by patiently while Captain Sparrow fiddled with his playlists and Mario and Luigi-- Dante and Hector respectively-- started placing the food on the tables they had lined up against the wall. The room they were renting had a small kitchen they could use to keep some food cooled in the fridge or kept warm in the oven. But both pirates already knew none of the food was going to be thrown away or wasted. Not with a speedster's metabolism.

The first to arrive were Iris and Eddie as Gomez and Morticia Addams. They had brought Caitlin along with them, and she had dressed as the Pink Power Ranger. Ronnie would have been her Green Ranger if he had chosen to come with them. She did her best not to show how much this agitated her, but Barry understood and gave her a brief hug of comfort.

Not too long after, Felicity and Oliver arrived as Princess Aurora and Prince Philip, Diggle right behind them as himself. He didn't see the point in dressing up when he already did so as Spartan. Cisco took their arrival as his cue to start playing the music, picking the seventies for now and some of the classic Halloween songs.

Everyone intended to eat first while the food was still fresh, and though Barry wanted to wait for Len to arrive, he couldn't ignore his growling stomach forever, so he eventually joined his friends and started eating.

Time flew as they discussed various topics and enjoyed the food provided by Cisco's family. Before they knew it, an hour had gone by, and everyone excluding Barry were hopeful the evening would go on without a disturbance.

Their hopes were dashed, as the doors slammed open and Mick Rory announced while holding up a six pack of beer: "Let's get this party started!"

Barry's friends sat in silent shock as the arsonist proceeded to march in, followed by the rest of the Rogues, one of them rolling in a keg or two of beer along with them. The speedster himself was just relieved they were finally here and not out committing crime together.

Dante was horrified at how much alcohol was being brought in. Cisco was first distracted by the hotness of Shawna as a nurse. Then, pissed at the fact that Hartley fucking Rathaway had come to crash his party dressed as Waldo. And finally, utterly floored and in awe of Lisa dressed as Princess Leia. Hector merely shrugged, used to party crashers.

Felicity blinked as Maleficent approached them. What were the odds that their costumes would match?

Selina grinned eerily similar to her character and greeted them with, "Why hello, Mr. Queen! Fancy meeting you here!"

"Ms. Kyle! Pleasure to see you again," Oliver replied politely after remembering her name. What was she doing with these people though? He would have to talk with Bruce after this to see if he was aware of her associations with known criminals or if she had a shady past herself.

"Hi, I'm Felicity Smoak, Oliver's girlfriend," said girlfriend introduced herself. She wanted that established quickly.

"Oh, I remember, an old man was perving on you last time we met," Selina replied calmly. She then added, "I adore your costume!"

"Thank you," Felicity responded tightly, wishing she had made a better first impression that night.

Mick had come as a firefighter, or himself, Barry wasn't sure and he didn't know whether or not to be worried that Diggle was helping with the kegs. Did he intend to drink or supervise? Or was he just making it his duty to keep an eye on the fire starter?

And what the hell was Axel Walker-- dressed as Beetlejuice-- doing here?!

"You don't look very happy to see me," Len said from beside him.

Barry yelped in surprise, having been far too engrossed in what the other thieves had been wearing to notice his boyfriend sneaking up on him. But he immediately got over it and enveloped Len in a hug, which caused him to stiffen before giving in and patting Barry's shoulder. If the speedster quietly mumbled that he had missed Len, only they had to know.

"Would have arrived sooner, but hair and makeup take time to get right," Len said to explain why they were late. It wasn't too hard to believe, especially with the Beetlejuice, Leia, and Maleficent costumes.

Taking a step back, Barry scrutinized Len's outfit and asked, "Doesn't Zorro usually wear a hat and cape?"

"Indeed, but I am the Dread Pirate Roberts," Len corrected with a tilt of his head and slight bow.

"Aw, that's so sweet," Felicity gushed from where she was sitting. Oliver stared at her incredulously while Iris and Eddie gave her a confused look. So she had to explain, "He dressed up as a legendary pirate to match Barry's costume."

Iris had to agree, "Oh, that is cute!"

Barry thought so too, but at the moment he was more fascinated by how the mask highlighted the blue of Len's eyes. His smug smirk fitting perfectly with the character. The v-collar of the black silk shirt gave a teasing preview to Len's chest underneath too. And it certainly didn't hurt that the rest of the costume was form fitting, which accentuated particular assets.

Barry wanted to say something flirty and complimentary to Len about his ensemble, but what came out was, "I have a hook."

Embarrassed at his failure to flirt-- even Felicity and Caitlin cringed in sympathy-- he lifted his hand to show said prop. Cisco had gone through the trouble of making it out of real metal too.

Smiling in amusement, Len replied, "I see."

He pulled out his own prop: a lasso. Then, with a carefully executed move Len wrapped it around Barry's shoulders. Pulling the speedster in close and whispering: "Now let's 'hook up' somewhere more private."

"Did he really just use a pick-up line with a pun and Barry fell for it?" Felicity asked as she watched them enter the bathroom together. Oliver looked like he wished he had heat ray vision.

"Yeah, that was a real hooker," Eddie tried to joke, surprising Iris into giving him a questionable look as well as a smack to the arm. He shrugged and mentioned his talk with Barry the other day. The following silence became awkward and was punctuated by "Take a Chance on Me" being played in the background.

"I need a drink," Caitlin suddenly announced. If she couldn't be with her husband right now, the least she could be doing was getting rip-roaring drunk. And the Rogues had been kind enough to provide her the alcohol she needed for that!

\----

As assumed, once they were holed up in the only bathroom, Len and Barry shamelessly started making out against the door. Almost instantly, the speedster had one leg wrapped around Len's waist and eagerly thrusted his hips forward. But despite his own enthusiasm, Len wasn't going to let it go that far just yet. After all, his costume was rented and Barry's Hook cosplay looked inconveniently complicated to get in and out of.

The rough sensation of Barry's beard rather than his smooth skin against Len's own was interesting to get used to. It also matured his face and made him appear his age rather than twelve. Len definitely enjoyed seeing the speedster's eyes once again outlined in black too. The overall look was without a doubt that of a roguish pirate and gave Len ideas.

When they took a moment to breathe, Barry asked, "Wait, shouldn't we be talking...?"

"About what, Scarlet?" Len replied as he moved onto Barry's neck.

"About us, our friends, our past, the things we've done," Barry said in between gasps as Len sucked bruises onto his skin. They would probably fade within the hour, but it was still pleasing for Barry to receive them.

"What's done is done, no sense dwelling on it," Len stated. He lifted Barry's other leg and wrapped it around his waist, which left the speedster with having to wrap his arms around Len's neck for support.

They resumed kissing, Barry whimpering with need and forgetting why he should protest this. It was a distraction tactic and it was working splendidly for Len. There was so much they needed to discuss though, such as Ferris Air. But Len's tongue in his mouth and the hand in his hair were far too pleasurable for Barry to ignore.

What he couldn't ignore, however, was the distinct sound of their friends chanting 'chug, chug, chug,' outside of the door.

They broke apart for air once again and Barry panted, "We should probably go back and make sure they don't shoot each other."

"Indeed," Len agreed even though he'd rather stay in here with his boyfriend.

As the two of them straightened back up, Barry tried to think of how to broach the subject he was trying to mention earlier but words were once again failing him.

Thankfully, Len understood and promised, "We'll discuss everything we need to when we're properly alone and have the time, deal?"

"Deal," Barry acquiesced with a smile.

It was such an adorable expression on the speedster's face, the beard not reducing its radiance by any means. So Len found himself giving in to his impulse and kissing Barry once again. Everyone else would be fine while he stole some more time with his boyfriend.

\----

At the party, Caitlin, Mick, Shawna, and Diggle were trying to out drink each other. Oliver stood nearby with his arms crossed and glaring in disapproval, Selina setting up a betting pool, which Felicity and a few others were participating in. The rest were simply cheering them on and handing them more beer to drink.

The only exceptions were Dante and Hartley who were standing off to the side together. They weren't speaking, but it was obvious they were judging everyone else in the room in silent disapproval, or disgust, in Hartley's case.

Diggle was the first to stop, citing he had a baby to take care of at home. This caused Felicity to groan in protest as she had every confidence he'd be able to out last the rest. He was an ex-soldier for crying out loud! Oliver partly worried what money she was using for this bet and how she had gotten the cash without him noticing. That was until Hector pointed out the atm. Selina handed Felicity a beer for her loss.

Shawna was next, but only due to having an empty stomach. She didn't want to make herself sick, which Caitlin totally understood despite her own mental state becoming inebriated. Dante took this as an opportunity to mention the food at the table which they were welcome to since they were guests and there was plenty of it.

This prompted Mick to stop playing as he was hungry too. Thus, Caitlin was deemed the winner of the drinking contest.

"Whoo! Go Caitlin! Winning me the big bucks," Cisco cheered as he went over to Selina to retrieve his prize money. Then he remembered who he was approaching and warily came closer.

Selina rolled her eyes before handing the money over to Lisa so she could give it to Cisco instead. Honestly, some people were just too paranoid.

Smiling, Lisa went over with it along with a black box. This prompted the engineer to blurt out, "That's not a bomb is it?"

Even Diggle shook his head at that line as Lisa glared at him briefly before thrusting the box and the money into his hands. Sheepishly, he opened it and discovered the watch they had stolen from him inside. Only now it looked clean, fresh and new!

"Figured it could use some spritzing up," she shrugged.

"Oh my god! Thank you," Cisco exclaimed excitedly giving her a hug and bouncing up and down. He then showed his brother who simply nodded.

"Tch, should have known you'd get excited over something Star Wars related," Hartley criticized, having seen it from where he was standing.

Glaring Cisco replied: "Hey, party pooper number 2, I didn't ask for your opinion."

"Wait, 2? Who's number 1," Felicity asked confused. Everyone looked pointedly at Oliver who was helping Caitlin sit back down but she didn't want to stay still.

"I wanna sing! Let's sing," Caitlin giggled out. But the archer suggested otherwise as he said: "How about you drink some water for me first and then we'll see about singing."

"What's up with her?" Mick asked not used to seeing the doctor acting so hyper.

"Her husband is out working," Eddie politely replied. He figured they should at least try and make an effort to get along with the Rogues, at least for Barry's sake.

Speaking of, they still hadn't returned from the bathroom and it was getting awfully quiet in there. Some along with Eddie were growing curious if not concerned.

"Someone should check up on them," Diggle stated as he served himself another plate of food. He also handed out beers to everyone else who wasn't drunk yet.

"Iris, you're his best friend," Felicity suggested.

"We're more like brother and sister, so no," Iris disagreed quickly before pointing out, "Cisco is the best friend!"

"Oh hell no! I don't wanna hear Barry bumping uglies with Captain Cold!" Cisco objected. Almost instantly Axel piped up after him with, "I do!"

Everyone shouted "NO!" at the kid, which prompted him to hide.

Bringing attention back to himself, Cisco pointed at Eddie and said: "He's the cop! He should be stopping them from committing public indecency!"

The Rogues paused in their eating and stared at Eddie suspiciously, which prompted him to say: "I'm not working right now!"

The argument over whom should check on the couple in the bathroom continued. Meanwhile, Hector had gone over to hear for himself. Dante stood nearby, curious, but didn't want to appear so and disturb what may be a private moment.

When he received a thumbs up from his cousin, Dante swiftly went to Cisco and said: "You might want to turn up the volume on the music."

"For real? They're doing it in the bathroom?" Cisco replied in shock. He didn't wait for a response before doing as suggested and filling the building with disco.

"Why are we listening to my mom's music?" Mick questioned once again.

"I will fight you!" Cisco threatened from his corner, which caused the arsonist to snort.

"Actually, I agree, we should be playing something else," Iris piped in.

"Don't make me come over there with my sword," the engineer persisted in his empty threats. He wasn't nearly drunk enough yet to really start a fight, and Dante wouldn't let him stir up trouble anyway.

It was too bad Shawna chose that moment to pop on over and take over as a DJ, startling the engineer and anyone else who hadn't been aware she was a meta-human. So a total of five people. She shooed him away and started to go over what music files he had available.

Rolling her eyes at his pitiful pout Shawna claimed: "I'll still play some disco for you, don't worry."

Upon her first song choice, Caitlin stood dramatically and ordered more than suggested: "Dance contest!"

\----

When Barry and Len finally emerged to rejoin the party, they found the others in the middle of another competition. Everyone either cheering on Mick or Cisco as they were the only two dancing in the center of the room. It was quite obvious a few were drunk too, as they wolf-whistled or shouted something raunchy.

"Make mother proud, hermano," Dante cheered for his sibling.

"C'mon my spicey nerd! Show 'em what ya got," Lisa encouraged as said nerd rotated his hips.

"You're a damn fireman, strip like one!" Caitlin yelled at Mick, which earned her a few looks. She was a married woman who didn't get her bachelorette party!

"That's a brilliant idea!" Selina agreed and pulled out her whip, which she had hidden on her person. Then, she let it loose with a quick flick of her wrist, and successfully busted open Cisco's costume vest and shirt.

He shrieked and covered himself in response just as Felicity chanted, "Yeah! Strip! Strip! Strip!"

Oliver, who was sitting away from the crowd at a table along with Diggle and Hartley, had his face in his hands as Diggle laughed his ass off. Hartley looked both pleasantly surprised and bored all at once.

Axel was nowhere to be seen, and that worried both Len and Barry a bit till they spotted him and Hector discussing something at the food table. Not seeing the harm both turned to look back at the dancing.

It wasn't until Shawna changed the song to "Booty" by Jennifer Lopez and Iggy Azalea that Mick finally took the initiative to at least throw off his jacket and start twerking. He had made sure his clothing landed in Caitlin's arms since she wanted it so badly.

Barry could only stare gobsmacked as the man managed to actually perform the move fairly well. Though his look turned incredulous as Felicity started raining dollar bills on him like an actual god damn stripper!

"Oh no you didn't!" Cisco protested and proceeded to start twerking too. He would not be beaten by Heatwave!

As more money got thrown, Barry could not stay quiet any longer and lamented: "What the hell are you guys doing?!"

Everyone jolted and stared at him for a second until Iris argued: "Oh, whatever you slut! We know you were having sex just now!"

"What! We did no such thing!" Barry denied, his face going red, but that only highlighted the hickeys on his neck. Len's smug smirk was of no help either.

"Liar! You totally want his D! Eddie told me," Iris pointed out, her fiance choosing that moment to hide behind Selina.

"Yeah, you want his ice, ice, baby!" Caitlin joined in giggling hysterically.

Barry was so stunned by their accusations, he wasn't sure how to feel. So rather than reply to them he turned to Len and said: "Fuck this, we're leaving!"

Merrily letting himself be dragged away, Len said in parting: "Bye sis! See you tomorrow! Don't break anyone while I'm gone!"

Once outside, he was then swept away to enjoy the rest of the night with his super hero boyfriend.

-The End...For Now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What a monster this turned out to be XD I thought it would wind up shorter than the last chapter, but nope! The muses had to prove me wrong! Anyway, I'm now off to write the sequel! So keep a look out for "Leonard versus Embarrassment."


End file.
